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Sagittarius 16: Sea gulls watching a ship

Th e w o r d s ea d e s c e nd s f r o m t h e O l d E ng l i s h sae , “ s h eet o f w at er , s ea ,

l ake” , b y w ay o f t h e Pr e -G e r m a ni c saiwaz . 1 

The word gul l d e s c e nd s f r o m t h e W e l s h  gwylan (gul l) , the

C o r ni s h  guilan , the Breton  goelann , and ult imately from the old Celt ic

voi lenno- . 2  

The word watch d e s c e nd s

f r o m t h e I nd o -E u r o p e a n ( I E ) r o o t  

weg-2   which means “to be strong,

l ively .” 3 I ts paronyms include

waken, wait , watch, wicca, witch,

bewitch, bivouac, waft ,

vegetable, v igor , ravigote  ( a

v i ne g a r s a u c e s e a s o ne d w i t h m i nc e d o ni o n , c a p e r s , a nd h e r bs , u s e d w i t h

boi led meats or f ish)  , vedette ( a m o u nt e d s e nt i ne l s t a t i o ne d i n a d v a nc e

o f a n o u t p o s t ) , v igi l , ve locity , v igi lante, a n d r ev ei l l e .

Both the word ship  a nd   t h e s u f f i x –ship  descend from the root   (s)kep- ,

the root and which is “the base of words with various technical meaningss u c h as ” t o c u t , s c r ape , and h ac k . 4 Among i ts paronyms are shape,

landscape, scoop, scupper , shaft   (the long narrow stem or body of a

s p e a r o r a r r o w ; a s p e a r o r a r r o w )  , shabby, scab, sapsago  ( a h a r d g r e e n

c h e e s e m a d e f r o m s ki m -m i l k c u r d , c o l o r e d a nd f l a v o r e d w i t h s w e e t  

c l o v e r )  , scabrous (having or covered with scales or small project ions

a nd r o u g h t o t h e t o u c h ; d i f f i c u l t t o h a nd l e ; d e a l i ng w i t h s c a nd a l o u s o r

s a l a c i o u s m a t e r i a l )  , scaphoid ( s h a p e d l i ke a bo a t )  , scapula  ( s h o u l d e r

bl a d e ) , capon  (a male chicken castrated when young to improve the

1 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=sea

2 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=gull

3 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, pp. 95

4 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, pp. 77

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qual i ty of i ts f lesh for food) ,   a n d scab b l e   (to work or dress stone

r o u g h l y , p r e l i m i na ry t o f i ne t o o l i ng ) .

THEMES:   FOOD i s an underlying theme l inking the two keywords

watch a n d ship . Recal l that the former descends from weg-2 which means

“to be strong, l ively .” I ts food related derivatives are vegetable and

ravigote  ( a v i ne g a r s a u c e s e a s o ne d w i t h m i nc e d o ni o n , c a p e r s , a nd

herbs , used with boi led meats or f ish) . The keyword ship descends from

t h e r o o t   (s)kep- which gives r ise to several words with the meaning cut ,

s c r a p e , a nd h a c k . I t s f o o d -r e l a t e d d e r i v a t i v e s i nc l u d e sapsago  (a hard

g r e e n c h e e s e m a d e f r o m s ki m -m i l k c u r d , c o l o r e d a nd f l a v o r e d w i t h s w e e t  

c l o v e r ) , cap on   (a male chicken castrated when young to improve the

qu a l i t y o f i t s f l e s h f o r f o o d ) . Th i s t h e m e m a ke s s e ns e be c a u s e f o o d i s t h e

reason why seagul ls watch ships .