Libra 21: A crowd upon the beach

T h e w o r d c r owd ha s t w o definitions descending from two d i f f e r e n t I n d o -E u r o p e a n r o o t s. T h e first meaning is a large number of p e r s o n s g a t h e re d t o g e t h e r ; a throng.1 This meaning descends f r o m t h e I n d o - E u r op e a n ( IE ) r o o t g reu t - w h i c h me a n s t o c o m p r e s s , p us h . 2 I t s p a r o n y m s i n c l u d e c ru d a n d

c u rd.
T h e s e c o n d me a n i n g o f c row d i s a n a n c i e n t C e lt i c st r i n ge d i n s t r u m e n t t ha t w a s b o w e d o r p l u c k e d a l s o ca l l e d a c rwt h . I n t he B r i t i s h d i a l e c t o f E n g li s h i t s i mp l y r e f e r s t o a v i o l i n . 3 T h e w o r d b e ach d e s c e n d s f r o m t he M i d d l e E n g l i s h b e c he w h i c h m e a n s s t r e a m a n d t he Ol d E n g l i s h b e ce . 4 TH EMES : O n e o f t he s y n o n y m s o f t h e k e y w o r d b e a ch i s ST RAND , t h e l a n d b o r d e r i n g a b o d y o f w a t e r ; a b e ach . 5 A s e c o n d m e a n i n g o f s t r a n d i s a c o m p le x o f f i b e r s o r fi l a m e n t s t h a t h a ve b e e n t w i s t e d t o g e t h e r t o f o r m a c a b l e , r o p e , t h r e a d, o r y a r n . 6 A m o n g i t s sy n o n y m s a r e t h e wo r d s f i b e r, f i l a me n t , l o ck , r o p e , a n d s t r i n g . 7 O n e d e f i n i t i o n o f crowd, a s n o t e d a b o v e , i s a s t r i n g e d i n s t r u m e n t a v i o li n . I n t he fi e l d o f

1 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/crowd 2 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 33 3 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crowd[3] 4 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/beach 5 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/strand 6 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/strand_2 7 http://thesaurus.com/browse/strand Starling Hunter 2011 1

music, the word strings refers to the section of a band or orchestra c o m p o s e d o f st r i n ge d i n s t r u me n t s. 8 S e v e r a l p a r a l l e l p h ra s e s ca n b e c o n s t r u c t e d f r o m t h e t w o p o l y se m o u s w o r d s c r owd a n d b e a ch a n d t h e i r s y n on y m s . T he s e i n c l u d e a c rowd ( g r o u p ) o n t he b e a c h , a crow d ( v i o l i n ) o n t he b e a c h , a v i o l i n o n t he b e ach , a st r i n g e d i n s t r u m e n t o n t h e b e ach , a st r i n g e d i n s t r u m e n t o n t h e st r a n d , a c rowd on t h e s t r a n d , e t c .

8 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/string Starling Hunter 2011 2