AC Wictionary

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List of interesting vocabulary from Asheron's Call with real world meanings.

Armor and Weapons

• Cestus - A cestus is an ancient battle glove, sometimes used in pankration. In effect, it is the classic world's equivalent to brass knuckles.

• Dolabra - The dolabra is a versatile tool used by the people in Italy since ancient times. The dolabra could serve as a pickaxe used by miners and excavators, a priest's implement for ritual religious slaughtering of animals and as an entrenching tool (mattock) used in Roman infantry tactics.

• Flamberge - A flame-bladed sword or wave-bladed sword has a characteristically undulating style of blade. The wave in the blade is often considered to contribute a flame-like quality to the appearance of a sword. While largely decorative, some attributes of the waved blade were useful in combat. The flame-bladed sword is also known as a flamberge.

• Katar - A katar (Devanāgarī: कटार), also known as a Bundi dagger, is a type of short punching sword that is native to the Indian subcontinent and popular elsewhere for swift and quick attacks. It is notable for its horizontal hand grip, which results in the blade of the sword sitting above the user's knuckles.

• Lorica - Lorica is a Latin word meaning body armor.

• Ono - Ono (斧, Ono?) is the Japanese word for an "axe" or a "hatchet", and as such it is used to describe various tools of the similar basic structure. As with axes in other cultures, ono are sometimes employed as weapons. Generally four feet long with a heavy, over-sized steel blade.

• Spada - The spatha was a type of straight sword with a long point and was used in gladiator fights and in war. The spatha of literature appears in the Roman Empire in the 1st century as a weapon of presumed Germanic auxiliaries and went on from there to become a standard heavy infantry weapon, relegating the gladius to use as a light infantry weapon. The spatha apparently replaced the gladius in the front ranks, giving the infantry more reach when thrusting.
• Silifi- Probably from Sumerian "silig" for "axe", as G from certain languages changes to F in English by way of Latin. Possibly from silepe/selepe, from Sesotho.

• Yari - The Japanese term for spear, or more specifically, the straight-headed spear. The martial art of wielding the yari is called sōjutsu.

• Yoroi - The Ō-Yoroi is a prominent example of Japanese armor. The term ō-yoroi means "great armor." For the most part the Ō-Yoroi was a rich man's armor and not used by lower ranking samurai.

Creatures

• Auroch - The aurochs or urus (Bos taurus primigenius) was a very large type of cattle that was prevalent in Europe until its extinction in 1627. The animal's original scientific name, Bos primigenius, was meant as a Latin translation of the German term Auerochse or Urochs, which was (possibly incorrectly) interpreted as literally meaning "primeval ox" or "proto-ox". This scientific name is now considered invalid by ITIS, who classify aurochs under Bos taurus, the same species as domestic cattle. The size of the ancient aurochs was far larger than most modern cattle, approximately 2 metres (6.5 feet) at the shoulder, and weighing 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lbs). Aurochs are depicted in many Paleolithic European cave paintings such as those found at Lascaux and Livernon in France. Early carvings of the aurochs have also been found. The impressive and dangerous aurochs survived into the Iron Age in Anatolia and the Near East, and was worshipped throughout that area as a sacred animal.

• Banderling Hierophant - A hierophant is a person who brings religious congregants into the presence of that which is deemed holy. The word comes from Ancient Greece, where it was constructed from the combination of ta hiera, "the holy," and phainein, "to show." In Attica it was the title of the chief priest at the Eleusinian Mysteries. A hierophant is an interpreter of sacred mysteries and arcane principles.

• Behemoth of Tenkarrdun - Behemoth is a biblical creature mentioned in the Book of Job, 40:15-24. The word is most likely a plural form of bəhēmāh, meaning beast or large animal. It may be an example of pluralis excellentiae, a Hebrew method of expressing greatness by pluralizing a noun; it thus indicates that Behemoth is the largest and most powerful animal ever to exist. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful entity.

• Chittick - Chitin is a long-chain polymer of a N-acetylglucosamine, a derivative of glucose, and is found in many places throughout the natural world. It is the main component of the cell walls of fungi, the exoskeletons of arthropods, such as crustaceans (like the crab, lobster and shrimp) and the insects, including ants, beetles and butterflies, the radula of mollusks and the beaks of the cephalopods, including squid and octopuses.

• Diaphanous Nephol Golem - In optics, transparency (also called pellucidity) is the material property of allowing light to pass through. In mineralogy, another term for this property is diaphaneity. The opposite property is opacity. Transparent materials are clear — they can be seen through. Translucent materials allow light to pass through them only diffusely: they cannot be seen through. Translucency does not include see-through colored objects such as (for instance) emerald in its cut state (which is transparent) but does include things such as frosted glass which allow light to come through but no distinct images.

• Diemos - Variant spelling of Deimos, son of Ares and Aphrodite in Greek mythology. Also one of Mars' two moons.

• Leviathan - Leviathan (twisted, coiled) is a Biblical sea creature referred to in the Old Testament (Psalm 74:13-14; Job 41; Isaiah 27:1). The word leviathan has become synonymous with any large sea monster or creature. In the novel Moby-Dick it refers to great whales, and in Modern Hebrew, it means simply "whale".
• Mu-miyah, from Old Arabic "mumiyah," which English borrowed for the word "mummy"

• Nubilous Golem - Nubilous means cloudy or vague. A cloud is a visible mass of droplets or frozen crystals floating in the atmosphere above the surface of the Earth or another planetary body. A cloud is also a visible mass attracted by gravity (clouds can also occur as masses of material in interstellar space, where they are called interstellar clouds and nebulae.) The branch of meteorology in which clouds are studied is nephology or cloud physics.

• Remoran - Remoras or suckerfish are elongate brown fish and their distinctive first dorsal fin takes the form of a modified oval sucker-like organ with slat-like structures that open and close to create suction and take a firm hold against the skin of larger marine animals. By sliding backward, the remora can increase the suction, or it can release itself by swimming forward. Remoras sometimes attach themselves to small boats. They also swim well on their own, with a sinuous motion. Remoras are primarily tropical open-ocean dwellers, occasionally found in temperate or coastal waters. In ancient times, the remora was believed to stop a ship from sailing. In Latin remora means "delay," while the genus name Echeneis comes from Greek echein ("to hold") and naus ("a ship"). Particularly notable is the account of Pliny the Younger, in which the remora is blamed for the defeat of Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium and (indirectly) for the death of Caligula.

• Sclavus - Sclavus is the Latin word for slave.

• Simulacrum - Simulacrum from the Latin simulacrum which means "likeness, similarity", is first recorded in the English language in the late 16th century, used to describe a representation of another thing, such as a statue or a painting, especially of a god; by the late 19th century, it had gathered a secondary association of inferiority: an image without the substance or qualities of the original. In the vernacular, "Doppelgänger" has come to refer (as in German) to any double or look-alike of a person. The word is also used to describe the sensation of having glimpsed oneself in peripheral vision, in a position where there is no chance that it could have been a reflection. They are generally regarded as harbingers of bad luck. In some traditions, a doppelgänger seen by a person's friends or relatives portends illness or danger, while seeing one's own doppelgänger is an omen of death.

• Turbid Nephol Golem - Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by individual particles (suspended solids) that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality. Fluids can contain suspended solid matter consisting of particles of many different sizes. While some suspended material will be large enough and heavy enough to settle rapidly to the bottom container if a liquid sample is left to stand (the settleable solids), very small particles will settle only very slowly or not at all if the sample is regularly agitated or the particles are colloidal. These small solid particles cause the liquid to appear turbid.

• Ursuin - Bears (family Ursidae) are mammals in the order Carnivora. Common characteristics of modern bears include a large body with stocky legs, a long snout, shaggy hair, plantigrade paws with five nonretractile claws, and a short tail.

• Zefir - Zephyrus, or just Zephyr, is the Greek god of the west wind. The gentlest of the winds, Zephyrus is known as the fructifying wind, the messenger of spring. It was thought that Zephyrus lived in a cave in Thrace.

Spell Components

• Amaranth - Although several species of Amaranth are considered weeds, people around the world value amaranths as leaf vegetables, cereals, and ornamentals. Amaranth and quinoa are called pseudograins because of their flavor and cooking similarities to grains. These are dicot plant seeds, and both contain exceptionally complete protein for plant sources. Besides protein, amaranth grain provides a good source of dietary fiber and dietary minerals such as iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, and especially manganese. The flowers of the 'Hopi Red Dye' amaranth were used by the Hopi Amerindians as the source of a deep red dye. There is also a synthetic dye that has been named "amaranth" for its similarity in color to the natural amaranth pigments known as betalains. This synthetic dye is also known as Red No. 2 in North America and E123 in the European Union. In ancient Greece, the amaranth (also called chrysanthemum and helichrysum) was sacred to Ephesian Artemis. It was supposed to have special healing properties, and as a symbol of immortality was used to decorate images of the gods and tombs.
• Bistort - Persicaria bistorta is a herbaceous flowering plant found throughout Europe. The Latin name "bistorta" refers to the twisted appearance of the root. The plant was used to make a bitter pudding in Lent from a combination of the plant's leaves, oatmeal, egg and other herbs. It is the principal ingredient of dock pudding. The root of Bistort can be used to produce an astringent that was used in medicine.
• Comfrey - Comfrey is a perennial herb of the family Boraginaceae with a black, turnip-like root and large, hairy broad leaves that bears small bell-shaped white, cream, light purple or pink flowers. It is native to Europe, growing in damp, grassy places, and is widespread throughout Ireland and Britain on river banks and ditches. One of the country names for comfrey was ‘knitbone', a reminder of its traditional use in healing bone fractures. Modern science confirms that comfrey can influence the course of bone ailments. The herb contains allantoin, a cell proliferant that speeds up the natural replacement of body cells. Comfrey was used in an attempt to treat a wide variety of ailments ranging from bronchial problems, broken bones, sprains, arthritis, gastric and varicose ulcers, severe burns, acne and other skin conditions.
• Damiana - Turnera diffusa, known as damiana, is a shrub native to Central America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean. Damiana is a relatively small shrub that produces small, aromatic flowers. It blossoms in early to late summer and is followed by fruits that taste similar to figs. The shrub is said to have an strong spice like odor somewhat like chamomile, due to an oil present in the plant. The leaves have traditionally been made into a tea and an incense which was used by native people of Central and South America for its relaxing effects. Spanish missionaries first recorded that the Mexican Indians drank Damiana tea mixed with sugar for use as an aphrodisiac.
• Dragonsblood - Dracaena cinnabari, the Socotra Dragon Tree or Dragon Blood Tree, is a Dragon Tree native to the Socotra archipelago. The trees can be harvested for their crimson red resin, called Dragon's blood which was highly prized in the ancient world and is still used today. Around the Mediterranean basin it was used as a dye and as a medicine, Socotrans use it ornamentally as well as dying wool, gluing pottery, a breath freshener and lipstick. Because of the belief that it is the blood of the dragon it is also used ritual magic and alchemy. The local inhabitants of the city in the Socotra Island use the Dragon's blood resin as a cure for all. They use it in general wound healing, as coagulant, curing diarrhea, for dysentery diseases, for lowering fevers. It is also taken for ulcers in the mouth, throat, intestines and stomach. Dragon's blood of Dracaena cinnabari was used as a source of varnish for 18th century Italian violin-makers.
• Eyebright - Euphrasia (Eyebright) is a genus of about 450 species of herbaceous flowering plants with a cosmopolitan distribution. They are semi-parasitic on grasses. The common name refers to the plant's use in treating eye infections.
• Frankincense - Frankincense is tapped from the scraggly but hardy Boswellia tree by slashing the bark and allowing the exuded resins to bleed out and harden. These hardened resins are called tears. There are numerous species and varieties of frankincense trees, each producing a slightly different type of resin. Differences in soil and climate create even more diversity of the resin, even within the same species. Frankincense trees are also considered unusual for their ability to grow in environments so unforgiving that they sometimes grow directly out of solid rock. The means of initial attachment to the stone is not known but is accomplished by a bulbous disk-like swelling of the trunk. This disk-like growth at the base of the tree prevents it from being torn away from the rock during the violent storms that frequent the region they grow in. This feature is slight or absent in trees grown in rocky soil or gravel.
• Ginseng - Ginseng roots are taken orally as adaptogens, aphrodisiacs, nourishing stimulants, and sexual dysfunction in men. The root is most often available in dried form, either whole or sliced. Ginseng leaf, although not as highly prized, is sometimes also used; as with the root it is most often available in dried form. The English word ginseng derives from the Chinese term meaning "man root" (referring to the root's characteristic forked shape, resembling the legs of a man).
• Hawthorn - Crataegus monogyna, known as Common Hawthorn, is a species of hawthorn native to Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia. The fruit of hawthorn, called haws, are edible, but are commonly made into jellies, jams, and syrups, used to make wine, or to add flavor to brandy, rather than eaten fresh.

Ranks and Titles

Aluvian

• High King/High Queen - A high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings, without the title of Emperor.
• King/Queen - A king is a head of state, who may or may not, depending on the style of government of a nation, exercise monarchal powers over a territory, usually called a kingdom or a realm.
• Aetheling/Aethelinga - Aetheling was an Old English term used in Anglo-Saxon England to designate princes of the royal dynasty who were eligible for the kingship.
• Duke/Duchess - A duke is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy or a dukedom.
• Ealdor/Ealdora - An ealdorman (from Old English ealdorman, lit. "elder man") is the term used for a high-ranking royal official and prior magistrate of an Anglo-Saxon shire
• Thane - The term thegn (or thane in Shakespearean English) is commonly employed by historians to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves
• Reeve - In England, a reeve was an official elected annually by the serfs to supervise lands for a lord.
• Baron/Baroness - Baron is a title of nobility. In the British peer system, barons rank below viscounts, and form the lowest rank in the peerage.
• Baronet - A baronet is the holder of a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown known as a baronetcy. The name baronet is a diminutive of the peerage title baron. The rank of a baronet is between that of a baron and a knight.
• Yeoman - A Yeoman is A man holding a small landed estate, a minor landowner.

Gharu'ndim

• Sultan/Sultana - Sultan (Arabic: سلطان‎ Sulṭān) is an Islamic title, used as the title of certain Muslim rulers who claimed almost full sovereignty. The dynasty and lands ruled by a sultan are called a sultanate.
• Malik/Malika - Malik (Arabic: ملك ‎) is an Arabic word meaning "king".
• Amir/Amira - Emir (Arabic: أمير; ãmeer), ("commander" or "general", also "prince" ; also transliterated as amir, aamir or ameer) is a high title of nobility or office, used throughout the Arab World and historically in some Turkic states and Afghanistan.
• Mushir/Mushira - A Mushir (Arabic: مشير‎) (Marshal) is the highest rank in most militaries of the Middle East.
• Qadi/Qadiya - Qadi (Arabic: قاضي‎) is a judge ruling in accordance with the sharia, Islamic religious law.
• Naqib/Naqiba - ??
• Ma'allim/Ma'allima - ??
• Maulan/Maulana - ??
• Shayk/Shayka - Sheikh, also rendered as Sheik, Shaykh, Shaikh, Cheikh, and other variants (Arabic: شيخ‎, shaykh; pl. شيوخ‎ shuyūkh), is a word or honorific term in the Arabic language that literally means "elder". It is commonly used to designate an elder of a tribe, a revered wise man, or an Islamic scholar.
• Sayyid/Sayyida - Sayyid (Arabic: سيد‎) (plural sādah) is an honorific title that is given to males accepted as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The word literally means "master" ; the closest English equivalent would be "sir" or "lord".

Viamontian

• High King/High Queen - See Aluvian titles.
• King/Queen - See Aluvian titles.
• Grand Duke/Grand Duchess - The title grand duke is used in Western Europe and particularly in Germanic countries for provincial sovereigns. Grand duke is of a protocolary rank below king but higher than a sovereign duke.
• Duke/Duchess - See Aluvian titles.
• Marquis/Marquise - A marquess is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European monarchies and some of their colonies.
• Count/Countess - A count is a nobleman in European countries; The word count comes from French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor".
• Viscount/Viscountess - A viscount is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl (in Britain) or a count (the earl's continental equivalent).
• Baron/Baroness - See Aluvian titles.
• Banner - ??
• Squire/Dame - A squire was originally a young man who aspired to the rank of knighthood. As part of his development to that end, he served an existing knight as an attendant or shield carrier. The squire would sometimes carry the knight's flag to battle with his master. If he proved his loyalty in battle, he would have a dubbing, an official ceremony to become a knight. A Dame is a female rank equivalent to a knight.

Other

• Crystal Imperator - The Latin word Imperator was a title originally roughly equivalent to commander during the period of the Roman Republic. It later went on to become a part of the titulature of the Roman Emperors as part of their cognomen. The English word emperor derives from the Latin word "imperator", via its French descendent empereur. There is no direct Latin equivalent of the English word emperor, however - the Roman Emperors gained authority from a large group of titles and positions, as opposed to any single title. Nevertheless, Imperator maintained a relatively constant status as a part of a Roman ruler's title throughout the principate (derived from princeps, from which we get prince) and the dominate.

• Diamond Golem Suzerain - Suzerainty is a situation in which a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which allows the tributary some limited domestic autonomy to control its foreign affairs. The more powerful entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the head of state of that more powerful entity, is called a suzerain.

• Glacial Margrave Golem - A Markgraf, or margrave, originally functioned as the military governor of a Carolingian mark, a medieval border province. A margrave had jurisdiction over a march (German: Mark), which also become known, after his title, as a margraviate or margravate, strictly speaking the correct word for his office. As outlying areas tended to have great importance to the central realms of kings and princes, and they often became larger than those nearer the interior, margraves often acquired considerably greater power than other counts of a realm. Being on the border, a Margrave by definition had to maintain armed forces and fortifications which would enable him to withstand an invasion - and these made his position stronger and more independent towards his own sovereign. Moreover, if successful in war, a Margrave might conquer considerable territory which he would tend to keep to himself, acquiring more power and wealth - and in some cases eventually building himself up as an independent King.

• Quaestor - Quaestor is a type of public official. In the Roman Republic a quaestor was an elected official who supervised the treasury and financial affairs of the state, its armies and its officers. Today quaestor is used as the title of financial oversight officials, and as a senior police rank.

Places

• Baishi- Mandarin for "white stone," which is a town in China.
• Eastham- East is the location, "ham" for hamlet.
• Holtburg- From old English, "Holt" as in a forest, "Burg" as in a hill fort or town.
• Rithwic- From middle English "rith," like a stream, and "wic," a town.
• Shoushi- In game means "small place," in Japanese it would be "small city."

Miscellaneous

• Aetheria - Although hypotheses of the aether vary somewhat in detail they all have certain characteristics in common. Essentially aether is considered to be a physical medium occupying every point in space, including within material bodies. A second essential feature is that aether's properties give rise to the electric and magnetic phenomena and determines the propagation velocity of their effects. Therefore the speed of light and all other propagating effects are determined by the physical properties of the aether at the relevant location, analogous to the way that gaseous, liquid and solid media affect the propagation of sound waves. The aether is considered the over-all reference frame for the universe and thus velocities are all absolute relative to its rest frame.
• Asheron- Acheron, the Greek river of woe

• Alembic - An alembic is an alchemical still consisting of two retorts connected by a tube. Technically, the alembic is only the upper part (the capital or still-head), while the lower part is the cucurbit, but the word was often used to refer to the entire distillation apparatus. The word "alembic" has taken on a metaphorical meaning - anything that refines or transmutes, as if by distillation - as in "the alembic of creative thought."

• Chiran-Tou, the Unicorn of Grace - Qilin, also spelled Kirin, is a mythical hooved Chinese chimerical creature known throughout various East Asian cultures. The qilin is sometimes called "the Chinese unicorn". it is a hybrid animal that looks less unicorn than chimera, with the body of a deer, the head of a lion, green scales and a long forwardly-curved horn. The Japanese version (kirin) more closely resembles the Western unicorn, even though it is based on the Chinese qilin.

• Empyrean - Empyrean, from the Medieval Latin empyreus, an adaptation of the Ancient Greek, "in or on the fire (pyr)", properly Empyrean Heaven, is the place in the highest heaven, which in ancient cosmologies was supposed to be occupied by the element of fire (or aether in Aristotle's natural philosophy).

• Geomancy, Laedron the Geomancer, Nomendar al-Rakh, Node-Leech's Orders - Geomancy (from Greek geōmanteia< geo, "earth" + manteia, "divination"; a calque of Arabic ‘ilm al-raml, "the science of sand"), is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground, or how handfuls of soil, dirt or sand land when someone tosses them. Geomancy in western tradition requires no instruments and no calculations; it is based solely on the human propensity for pattern recognition. Modern methods of geomancy include, in addition to the traditional pen-and-paper or sand methods, using geomancy cards, random number generators, or thrown objects. Geomancy formed part of the required study of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the late 19th century, and also survives in modern occult practice.

• Heliotropic - The property of some plants of turning under the influence of light; either positively (towards the light) or negatively (away from the light). (Ancient Falatacot Trinket)

• Hermetic, Pearl of Hermetic Linking, Hermetic Link (Spell) - The word hermetic is commonly applied to literary or graphical symbolism that is exceedingly obscure, convoluted, or esoteric. In that context, and not in any other context, hermeticism is the deliberate use of hermetic imagery.
• Kemeroi- Possibly from the Egyptian hieroglyph "km iri ('to make an end')", but there are arguments against this interpretation.

• Ley Line, Shattered Lines - Ley lines are hypothetical alignments of a number of places of geographical interest, such as ancient monuments and megaliths. The ley lines and their intersection points are believed by some to resonate a special psychic or mystical energy, often including elements such as geomancy, dowsing or UFOs, stating that, for instance, UFOs travel along ley lines (in the way that one might observe that cars use roads and highways). This belief postulates that points on lines have electrical or magnetic forces associated with them.

• Mnemosyne Collection Site, Titanic Dericost Mnemosyne, Rytheran's Mnemosyne - Mnemosyne was the personification of memory in Greek mythology. This titaness was the daughter of Gaia and Uranus and the mother of the Muses by Zeus. In Hesiod's Theogony, kings and poets receive their powers of authoritative speech from their possession of Mnemosyne and their special relationship with the Muses.

• Mount Lethe - In Classical Greek, Lethe literally means "forgetfulness" or "concealment". It is related to the Greek word for "truth": a-lethe-ia, meaning "un-forgetfulness" or "un-concealment". In Greek mythology, Lethe is one of the several rivers of Hades: those who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness.

• Oubliette Portal Gem - An oubliette (from the French oubliettes) was a form of dungeon which was accessible only from a hatch in a high ceiling. To exit an oubliette was nearly impossible without outside help. The word comes from the same root as the French oublier, "to forget," as it was used for those prisoners the captors wished to forget. Most prisoners were left to die of starvation. Another form of oubliette was a shelf in a long steeply sloping tunnel leading down to the moat or to the sea. Once cast down the tunnel, a victim would either slowly starve or cast themselves further down to drown.
• Sho- Possibly from Mandarin for hand.

• Theodolite, Sins of the Fathers Teaser, The Breaking of the Crystal Core - A Theodolite is an instrument for measuring both horizontal and vertical angles, as used in triangulation networks. It is a key tool in surveying and engineering work, particularly on inaccessible grounds, but theodolites have been adapted for other specialized purposes in fields like meteorology and rocket launch technology. A modern theodolite consists of a movable telescope mounted within two perpendicular axes, the horizontal or trunnion axis, and the vertical axis. When the telescope is pointed at a desired object, the angle of each of these axes can be measured with great precision, typically on the scale of arcseconds.

• Tuatara Plains - The tuatara is a reptile endemic to New Zealand which, though it resembles most lizards, is actually part of a distinct lineage. The two species of tuatara are the only surviving members of its order, which flourished around 200 million years ago. Their dentition, in which two rows of teeth in the upper jaw overlap one row on the lower jaw, is unique among living species. They are further unusual in having a pronounced parietal eye, dubbed the "third eye", whose current function is a subject of ongoing research. The name "tuatara" derives from the Māori language, and means "peaks on the back".

• Ziggurat - Ziggurats were huge pyramidal temples built in the ancient Mesopotamian valley and western Iranian plateau, having the form of a terraced step pyramid of successively receding stories or levels. There are 32 ziggurats known at, and near, Mesopotamia.