The word mantle and its
many meanings came up on the program recently. It originated with the Latin
word mantellum, a cloak. One way or
another, the divergent meanings of mantle all include the idea of something
that encloses or protects. Here’s a rundown of the meanings that are not
obsolete.
·
a protective
garment or blanket
·
a guise or
pretense
·
a position
of authority or leadership
·
in
crustaceans, a layer of covering epidermal tissue
·
in birds,
the plumage of the back and the folded wings
·
in mammals,
the layer of striated muscle below the skin
·
the scum
formed on fermenting liquids
·
the bloom of
algae that forms on stagnant ponds
·
the mesh
covering used to contain a flame in a propane lantern
·
the region
of the earth’s interior between the crust and the core
Mantel, the piece of
timber or stone supporting the masonry above a fireplace, now has a different
spelling, but originally it was spelled mantle and came from the same Latin
word that meant a cloak.
Finally, dismantle – to take
something apart – started out meaning to strip a cloak right off a man’s back.
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