Glans – Latin Translation

[Anonymous]

<br>
Glans in the sense of a sling projectile is usually translated to acorn, but various dictionaries I have looked at suggest that it might mean other types of nut (for example see: cawley.archives.nd.edu/cg...ns&ending= ). Since glandes often take the shape of an almond, is it possible that this word could actually be better translated simply as “nutâ€Â

[JRSCline]

"Glans" is used also as an anatomical term for the tip of the male organ, which would sound more like an acorn than an almond to me, but I suppose it depends on the man. See Gray's Anatomy.<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
Jenny <p></p><i></i>

[Praefectusclassis]

Perhaps it´s no coincidence that the Dutch word ´eikel´ means both acorn and what Jenny mentioned. The exact same meanings as glans therefore <p>Greets<br>
<br>
Jasper</p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

I am just curious about the etymology of the word. I think one of my dictionaries says it is: “the nut like fruit of a tree, acorn, chestnut etc.â€Â

[Dan Diffendale]

The Oxford Latin Dictionary defines it thusly:<br>
"<strong>1</strong> The fruit of mast-bearing trees, esp. acorn or beechmast. <strong>2</strong> A missile discharged from a sling."<br>
and says also that it's cognate with the Greek ba/lanos.<br>
Pliny the Elder says "...glandem, quae proprie intellegitur, ferunt robur, quercus, aesculus, cerrus, ilex, suber." <em>Robur</em> through <em>suber</em> are different kinds of oak tree that bear the <em>glans</em>, which is the proper name for the nut.<br>
It's perhaps from the Indo-european root meaning "to grow", but don't quote me on that. <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

As it is my understanding that a dirty mind is a joy for ever I nevertheless find that the word glans in the meaning of being slingshot has nothing to do with<br>
anatomy -male or otherwise-<br>
In my humble opinion it really is an acorn that's meant.<br>
<br>
In the fortress of Velsen they found 520 sling bullets in<br>
four various forms.<br>
One of the normal oval type and the rest in various stages of developement.<br>
<br>
The oval is cast in a mold but the others are cast in the<br>
ground and then hammered into shape.<br>
Those three types were either fully hammered into shape<br>
(i.e oval) or half-finished or not at all.<br>
Apparently depending on how little time they had for finishing them during the battle for the fortress.<br>
<br>
The unfinished one is just a finger thrust into the ground<br>
(you can still see the fingernail) with no working on it whatsoever so it just flat on top.<br>
But it is the half finished one that is interesting.<br>
The bottom half (the fingertip) is smooth but the top half is hammered into an oval shape and thus has a rough surface.<br>
So it really does resemble an acorn.<br>
Smooth on the bottom and rough where it's cap is.<br>
<br>
Probably this process predated the casting-mold and so the name acorn-glans stuck.<br>
<br>
I still have some that acorn-shaped slingshot from when<br>
I recreated the process years ago at Archeon.<br>
If anybody is interested I'll post a picture.<br>
They are, by the way, far more accurate then any stone<br>
I've ever used.<br>
<br>
Greetings,<br>
Cordvs. <p></p><i></i>