Words for "Flight" (was Paedomorphosis)

["John V Jackson" <jjackson@interalpha.co.uk>]

-----Original Message---From: Dinogeorge To: jjackson@interalpha.co.uk Date:
14 April 1998 09:29



>In a message dated 98-04-14 04:16:53 EDT, you write:
>
><< I suppose volant means ornithoptering through air, which would be
> perfectly adequate for most discussions of propulsion involving flapping.
>  >>
>
>Volant means "engaged in or having the power of flight." So we're left with
>"flight" again--although a thrown baseball is probably not to be considered
>"volant"(!). We could co-opt the term for a more restrictive kind of
>flying--perhaps anything from parachuting to gliding to ornithopting.
Whatever
>an animal might do under its own steam, so to speak.


We might use "volant" for that, and indeed my Chambers Giant Paperback
includes "Passing lightly through the air" as its second definition after
"flying".  It also defines "volante" (mus) "moving lightly and rapidly", and
"volitant": "flying or fluttering; moving about; able to fly".

However, it has "aerial" as: "In or belonging to the air";. . ."performed
high above the ground", and it has "aerialist" as "a person who performs on
the high wire or trapeze".  That's still my fave for "anything from
parachuting to gliding to ornithopting".

JJ