Anathem

Fluccish: The dominant global language of the Sæcular world. Derived from an ancient “barbarian” (i.e., non-Orth) language, its vocabulary overlaps with that of Orth when dealing with abstractions, technical, medical, or legal terms. When extramuros culture is largely illiterate or aliterate (which is most of the time), it is written in short-lived, ad hoc writing systems such as Kinagrams or Logotype, but it can also be transcribed using the same alphabet as is employed for Orth.

Fraa: A male avout.

Gardan’s Steelyard: (1) A rule of thumb stating that when one is comparing two hypotheses, preference should be given to the one that is simpler. Also referred to as Saunt Gardan’s Steelyard or simply the Steelyard.

Gheeth: An informal term, verging on an ethnic slur, for a particular ethnic group in the Sæcular world.

Graduation: A procedure by which an avout belonging to a Unarian, Decenarian, or Centenarian math may move up to (respectively) the adjoining Decenarian, Centenarian, or Millenarian math, traditionally by passing through a labyrinth that bridges the two maths in question.

Grandfraa: An informal term of respect by which an avout might address a very senior fraa, especially, but not necessarily, one who has celebrated the aut of Regred.

Grandsuur: An informal term of respect by which an avout might address a very senior suur, especially, but not necessarily, one who has celebrated the aut of Regred.

HTW: See Hylaean Theoric World.

Halikaarn: A Saunt from the last decades of the Praxic Age who clashed with his contemporary, Proc. Sometimes called Saunt Halikaarn the Great. Broadly speaking, Halikaarn is seen as the standard-bearer of the school of theorics promulgated thousands of years earlier by Protas and Thelenes and carried forward after his death by his disciple Evenedric and the Semantic Faculties.

Halikaarnian: Of, or relating to, Saunt Halikaarn or any of the Orders that claim descent from the Semantic Faculties. Frequently seen as natural opponents of Procians and Faanians.

Harbinger: One of a series of three calamities that engulfed most of Arbre during the last decades of the Praxic Age and later came to be seen as precursors or warnings of the Terrible Events. The precise nature of the Harbingers is difficult to sort out because of destruction of records (many of which were stored on syntactic devices that later ceased functioning) but it is generally agreed that the First Harbinger was a worldwide outbreak of violent revolutions, the Second was a world war, and the Third was a genocide.

Hemn space: What is called configuration, state, or phase space on Earth.

Hierarch: One of a specialized caste of avout whose responsibilities include the administration of maths and concents, interaction with the Sæcular world and with hierarchs in other maths, defense of the math from Sæcular molestation, policing, and maintenance of the Discipline.

Hundred, to go: To lose one’s mind, to become mentally unsound, to stray iredeemably from the path of theorics.

Hundreder: Informal term for a Centenarian (see).

Hylaea: One of the two daughters of Cnoüs, the other being Deät. She interpreted her father’s vision as meaning that he had glimpsed a higher and more perfect world (the Hylaean Theoric World or HTW) populated by pure geometric forms, crudely copied by geometers in this world.

Hylaean Theoric World: The name used by most adherents of Protism to denote the higher plane of existence populated by perfect geometric forms, theorems, and other pure ideas (cnoöns)

Hypotrochian Transquaestiation: Only one of a very large number of rhetorical tactics drilled into fids, particularly those under the tutelage of Procians. It means to change the subject in such a way as to assert, implicitly, that a controversial point has already been settled one way or the other.

Iconography: An oversimplified and, in most cases, wildly inaccurate schema used by Sæculars to make sense of what little they know of the mathic world, often taking the form of a conspiracy theory or an allusion to characters and situations from popular entertainments.

Icosahedron: A roughly spherical geometric figure with twenty faces, each of which is an equilateral triangle.

Inbrase: A rarely celebrated aut in which Peregrins are welcomed back into the mathic world following a journey through the Sæculum.

Incanter: A legendary figure, associated in folklore with Halikaarnian orders, said to be able to alter physical reality by the incantation of certain coded words or phrases.

Inquisition: Global body charged with maintaining uniform standards of the Discipline across all maths and concents, typically acting through the Wardens Regulant.

Inviolate: One of the three Millenarian maths that was never breached during the seven decades of the Third Sack. The Three Inviolates were at the Concents of Saunt Edhar, Saunt Rambalf, and Saunt Tredegarh.

Ita: A caste dwelling in the mathic world but segregated from the avout, responsible for all functions having to do with syntactic devices and the Reticulum.

Jeejah: Ubiquitous handheld electronic device used by Sæculars, combining functions of mobile telephone, camera, network browser, etc. Forbidden in the mathic world.

Jumpweed: A ubiquitous weed that when chewed acts as a stimulant. Psychoactive in larger doses. One of the Eleven.

Kedev: A devotee of the Kelx or Triangle faith.

Kefedokhles: A smug, pedantic interlocutor.

Kelx: (1) A religious faith created during the Sixteenth or Seventeenth Century A.R. The name is a contraction of the Orth Ganakelux meaning “Triangle place,” so called because of the symbolic importance of triangles in the faith’s iconography. (2) An ark of the Kelx faith.

Kinagrams: A simple set of ideograms used by Sæculars in place of a written language per se.

Laboratorium: At a Convox, a daily work session, typically in the morning, in which the attendees gather in groups to which they have been assigned by the hierarchs and pursue specific projects.

Lesper’s Coordinates: Also called Saunt Lesper’s Coordinates. Equivalent to Cartesian coordinates on Earth.

Liaison, Atlanian: An unusual type of liaison between a Te

Liaison, Etrevanean: A liaison roughly equivalent to going steady in the Sæcular world.

Liaison, Perelithian: A liaison equivalent to marriage in the Sæcular world.

Liaison, Tivian: The most casual and ephemeral type of liaison.

Liaison: A relationship, typically sexual or at least romantic, in the mathic world.

Lineage, Old: According to some traditions, an unbroken chain of mentors and fids begi

Lineage: In general, a chronological sequence of avout who, prior to the Third Sack reforms, acquired and held property exceeding the bolt, chord, and sphere, each conferring the property upon a chosen heir at the moment of death. In this sense, frequently co

Loctor: Informal contraction of Interlocutor, meaning one’s partner in a Dialog.

Logotype: A simple writing system used by Sæculars but, during the time in which Anathem is set, being rendered obsolete by Kinagrams.