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E in Print and Proverb
- (phrase) This may be inscribed in a church under the two
tablets of the Ten Commandments: "PRSVR PRFCT MN VR KP THS PRCPTS TN.
The Vowel E Supplies the Key."
- (phrase) to give the big E means to brush off or ignore. The E originally stood for elbow.
- (in literature) E, candor of steam and of tents, / Lances of proud glaciers, white kings, Queen-Anne's-lace shivers. —Arthur Rimbaud, "Vowels."
- (in literature) E is the foundation, the pillar and the roof. —all architecture contained in a single letter. —Victor Hugo, Voyages and Excursions.
- (in literature) French author Georges Perec wrote an
entire book, La Disparition, without using the letter E. This book was
translated into English, also without the E, under the title A Void.
- (in literature) The peninsular landscape is full of
contrasts, paradoxes, and transformations. The most prominent elements
on the horizon are forever silent, while smaller outgrowths have a
profound resonance. More amazing, though, is how proximity to an E can
actually transform an object into something entirely different.
(Luckily, as my name is Sam, I remained the same.) I have sketched a
rough map of the terrain, but have yet to fill in the details. I'm in
no hurry, as the landscape of E will remain forever etched in my memory. —Craig Conley, The Workbook of One-Letter Words.
- (in popular usage) E-nough already! The "E" has come
to be the favored letter in the e-world of Silicon Valley. Have they
forgotten about the other 25 perfectly good characters of the alphabet?
Let us start with the vowels that have been left to collect dust as
their compatriot has made its meteoric rise to fame. What of "A" - was
this not your first vowel, bringing to mind fond childhood memories of
ABCs and 123s? What of "I" - that character that embodies the self and
so much more? What of "O" - which is in itself a perfect exclamation of
any and all emotions? What of "U" - counterpart to "I" that gives it
balance and brings community? And sometimes "Y" - ever questioning and
pushing the boundaries? Does not the power of the "E" pale when placed
next to the stunning expansiveness of the other vowels? We do not seek
the demise of our friend "E," but merely want to put it in its place,
and provide an environment in which all the other letters have room to
grow and flourish. —Anton Vowl, The Society for the Preservation of the Other 25 Letters of the Alphabet.
- n. the fifth letter of the alphabet.
<It
was a promiscuous, fawning surd, continually merging with its
neighboring consonants ("R" in particular), confirming Lempri?re's view
of [E] as a perdifious little hieroglyph. —Lawrence Norfolk, Lempri?re's Dictionary.>
- n. any spoken sound having the shape of the letter.
<The sound vibration of the vowel E means "reflection, reflectivity, relationship, placing, placement, grid, mirror, echo." —Joseph E. Rael, Tracks of Dancing Light: A Native American Approach to Understanding Your Name.>
- n. a written representation of the letter.
- n. a device, such as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter.
- (in literature) the title of a seven-minute Canadian animated film directed by Bretislav Pojar.
<A
giant statue of the letter 'E' arrives in the park. One man sees it as
'B'; they are preparing to cart him off to the loony bin when a doctor
arrives and determines the man needs glasses. Then the king arrives; he
also sees 'B'. He tries on the glasses, sees 'E', and pins a medal on
the doctor then has his goon squad come and bash on everyone's head
until they too see 'B'. —Anonymous.>
Facts and Figures
- E is the most commonly occurring of all letters. A is third, O fourth, I fifth, and U comes in a distant twelfth.
Foreign Meanings
- prep. (Latin) out of, as in "E pluribus unum," one out of many.
From One to Five
- n. one piece of styrofoam packing material (in the shape of an E).
- n. in England, the second-class Lloyd's rating for the quality of a merchant ship.
- n. the third note in a C-major musical scale.
- n. one of four cardinal points on a compass (abbreviation for East).
- n. the fifth in a series.
Levels of Achievement
- n. a U.S. government award (usually a pennant bearing an E, symbolizing excellence) given to an industrial organization.
- n. a grade in school indicating "excellent."
- n. one graded with an E.
Miscellaneous
- n. something having an E-shape.
<He
had decided on the "E" shape for the building to keep it narrow enough
to maximize the efficient use of natural light and because, had it run
end to end in a line, the amount of floor space required would have made
the building too long. —Vicki Boatright, The Panama Canal Review.>
- n. a Roman numeral for 250.
- n. something arbitrarily designated E (e.g. a person, place, or other thing).
- n. a shoe width size (narrower than EE, wider than D).
- n. (logic) the notation of a universal negative
statement, such as "no plants are mammals." In categorical logic, the
square of opposition describes the relationship between the universal
affirmative A, the universal negative E, the particular affirmative I,
and the particular negative O.
- n. (mathematics) the natural number e, used as
the base for natural logarithms and with applications in problems of
population growth and radioactive decay.
Music
- n. a written or printed musical note.
<He
stayed for the second encore — an otherwise inspiring version of
Finlandia, sunk by the incapacity of the aforementioned hornist, Mr.
Kelleher, to hit a good E flat. —Brooks Hansen, Perlman's Ordeal.>
- n. a string, key, or pipe tuned to the note E.
Scientific Matters
- n. a vitamin (tocepherol).
<Vitamin
E is a key player in the body's defense system. An antioxidant, it
protects the lungs, nervous system, skeletal muscle, and the eye's
retina from damage by free radicals (cell-damaging chemicals). It also
protects cell membranes and is believed to slow aging of cells. It
helps form red blood cells and protects them from being destroyed. It
may also reduce the risk of heart disease by protecting against
atherosclerosis (the buildup of fat in the arteries), but this has not
yet been proved conclusively. ... Vitamin E is found is vegetable oils,
nuts, wheat germ and whole-wheat products, egg yolks, and green leafy
vegetables. —American Medical Association.>
- n. (chemistry) the symbol for the element einsteinium in the Periodic Table.
- n. (physics) The fundamental unit of charge e,
originally measured by Robert Millikan in 1917, was later refined
through the discovery of the relationship between the Avogadro constant N
and the Faraday constant F.
- n. (biology) glutamate, an amino acid.
- n. a layer of the ionosphere, as in the "E layer."
<This
part of the ionosphere is located just above the D-layer at an altitude
of 90-130km. This layer can only reflect radio waves up to about
5MHz. It has a negative effect on 27MHz, due to absorption of radio
waves above 5MHz. It develops shortly after sunset, and disappears a
few hours after sunset. Maximum ionization is reached around midday. —WWDX Propogation College.>
- n. the numerical value of pi.
<Cajori
writes that 'perhaps the earliest use of a single letter to represent
the ratio of the length of a circle to its diameter' occurs in 1689 in Mathesis enucleata by J. Christoph Sturm, who used e for 3.14159. —Jeff Miller, "Earliest Uses of Various Mathematical Symbols.">
- n. a number whose hyperbolic logarithm is = 1, adopted by Leonhard Euler in 1736.
<Why
did he choose the letter e? There is no general consensus. According to
one view, Euler chose it because it is the first letter of the word
exponential. More likely, the choice came to him naturally as the first
'unused' letter of the alphabet, since the letters a, b, c, and d
frequently appear elsewhere in mathematics. It seems unlikely that
Euler chose the letter because it is the initial of his own name, as
occasionally been suggested: he was an extremely modest man and often
delayed publication of his own work so that a colleague or student of
his would get due credit. In any event, his choice of the symbol e, like
so many other symbols of his, became universally accepted. —Eli Maor qtd. in Jeff Miller, "Earliest Uses of Various Mathematical Symbols.">
Find dozens more E's in the upcoming print edition of the Dictionary of One Letter Words! Details forthcoming.
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