Saunterer

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Saunterer in Hungarian is õdöngõ, õgyelgõ, lézengõ, and is a word used by Stimes Addisson to denote an egg.

Extrapolation


"Saunter" stems from the Latin sanctus or "holy." During religious ceremonies, it was a magical word, repeated over and over until one reached a state of religious ecstasy. There was an "official" Sanctus, which is still sung today ("Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty...").

The Sanctus later spun off into the Black Sanctus, which, per the OED, is "a kind of burlesque hymn; a discord of harsh sounds expressive of contempt or dislike (formerly used as a kind of serenade to a faithless wife); ‘rough music’." One hopes it is still song today.

The word eventually evolved into the English "saunter," which, long ago, referred to one touched by the muse, wandering in a reverie, bringing forth an incantation. The magical components of the word were later lost, and it came to be more-or-less synonymous with "meander."

Curiously, the neutral form of sanctus (sanctum) came to mean a holy place; though saunter and sanctum share a common root, they have branched into completely opposite meanings of place/non-place, though they share inexplicit connotations of solitude.

See Also