Terms with unexpected meanings, part 5

Here are some more words that stood out to me as I looked through our big 1971 Webster's Dictionary:

* "patient" = (noun) "archaic: one that suffers, endures, or is victimized." Yes, that really is what is says in the first definition of patient--one that is victimized. I think most people in the health care field would be surprised to see a "patient" defined thus, as they work in health care to help others, not victimize them!

* "trephone" = (noun) "any of various blood substances in the blood serum and body fluids that promote the growth of cells." Why, when our global community researches cancer so diligently, is this word not part of our vocabulary?

* "trephocyte" = "a blood cell found in many invertebrates and concerned primarily with the transport of substances between the body cells." Invertebrates? We don't eat many of those, but we do eat some--squid, octopus, snails, clams, oysters, scallops, etc.--and I'd be interested in knowing what substances trephocytes transport and what health benefits could be obtained by the utilization of trephocyte-containing blood.

* "apoplex" = (transitive verb) "archaic: to strike with apoplexy." Apoplexy is defined as a stroke. A transitive verb is one that a person (or other agent) can do to a second person. If it's possible to strike someone down with a stroke-like illness--which the existence of this verb definition implies--how would one do such a thing? Shouldn't that be investigated?

* "appliance" = (noun) "2: something applied to a purpose or use: as a archaic : DEVICE, MEASURE, STRATAGEM b: a piece of equipment for adapting a tool or machine to a special purpose: ACCESSORY, FIXTURE, APPLIANCE." I never would have thought "stratagem" to be a definition of appliance. To me, appliances are clothes washers and such.

* "-tribe": as an ending, one definition of "-tribe" is "instrument for crushing, compressing, or rubbing." Because electricity can be generating by the use of such instruments (see "triboelectricity", which means the positive and negative charges caused by friction), I'd be interested in knowing whether such instruments are present in my kitchen, my footwear, and my apparel.

* "trifle": not just a British dessert or a small thing, a "trifle" can also be "a pewter of moderate hardness (as of 83 parts tin and 17 parts antimony) used esp. for small utensils." I have been looking at how antimony might get into our food and drinks, and kitchen utensils made with antimony could certainly contribute to that happening.

* "apostate" = "adj [ME, fr. apostate n.] 1: relating to or characterized by apostasy <the child of an ~ ... Catholic--Time> faithless to moral allegiance: RENEGADE <so spoke the ~ angel--John Milton> 2: abandoning or involving the abandonment of any form of allegiance <an ~ and unnatural connection with any foreign power--George Washington>." Why name-drop George Washington here? I didn't think the term apostate was used in connection with revolution, but if that makes George Washington an "apostate" in the eyes of some people in the British Commonwealth, he is still my hero. :)

* "hydromagnetic", introduced in the dictionary in 1971, has two definitions. One is "being a wave in an electrically conducting fluid in a magnetic field," and the other is "MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC," which was previously defined in the main text of the dictionary as "or or relating to phenomena arising from the motion of electrically conducting fluids in the presence of electric and magnetic fields." The second definition appears much broader than and inclusive of the narrower "hydromagnetic" term introduced in 1971; I don't see why it was deemed necessary to create a different, more narrow term. Also, how does magnetohydrodynamics intersect with human biology? After all, we have "electrically conducting fluids in the presence of electric and magnetic fields" throughout our bodies.

* "appendant" has definitions that appear contradictory. One says "annexed or belonging as a right--used in English law of certain ancient immemorial rights in land (as an advowson or common) that are annexed to the land of the person claiming them," while another says "attached as an appendage: ANNEXED." When I go to the definition of "to annex," one of them is "to appropriate esp. by highhanded or or ethically questionably methods: get hold of: make off with; often STEAL." Who knew that boring-sounding contract law terms sometimes are hiding theft underneath their layers of definitions?

* "Sanctified" and "sanctimonious" have somehow been made equivalent in this dictionary, even though they are opposites in the minds of most English speakers. Here's the entry for "sanctimonious": adj [L sanctimonia sanctimony + E -ous] 1: affecting piousness: hypocritically devout: displaying high-mindedness with intent to impress <easy to be ~ about loyalty--C.P. Curtis> <a woman who was religious without being ~ --G.S.Stokes> 2: archaic: possessing sanctity: HOLY, SACRED [synonym] see DEVOUT." (Keep in mind that archaic merely means old, not invalid.) And here is the entry for "sanctified": adj [ME, fr. past part. of sanctifien to sanctify] 1 a: made holy: made free of sin or from the bondage of sin b: set apart to sacred duty or use 2: made to have the air of sanctity: SANCTIMONIOUS." Isn't that odd? 

The last two words in today's post have me wondering--after the dictionary entry I found earlier on "cretin" (see https://petticoatgovernment.blogspot.com/2023/01/terms-with-unexpected-meanings-part-2.html)--who were the 1971 Webster's dictionary editors with a deep dislike for religious people?