argent: From the Latin word for silver, argentum. Since heralds of the past lacked a lustrous silvery paint pigment, they had to represent "silver" with another color, which was usually white paint (and sometimes grey). As such, in heraldic terminology argent means both "silver" and "white".

armiger: One who bears a heraldic/armorial emblem.

audatia: Older spelling of an Italian word which translates as "audacity/initiative". In his Flos Duellatorum ("Flower of Dueling") manual, famed Italian scrimitor Fiore dei Liberi cites audatia as a core martial virtue. Audatia is one of three determinants of victory in any skirmish, with the other two being misura and tempo.

aumkara: Within the Shaktidharma denomination of Puranic Hinduism, the aumkara is the visual symbol representing the triad of shakti ("cosmic energies") which produce, preserve, and purify all of Existence. These three shakti are the three core mechanisms required for the evolution of any system, and as such the aumkara is a symbol of evolution. This image (Aumkara.jpg) is the stylized aumkara used in the heraldry of Clan Lunin. Coincidentally, the triune aumkara contains an element that appears to be the numeral 3, but is in fact the first part of the Devanagari analogue to the English letter 'A'.

azure: In heraldry the term azure represents a nonspecific range of blues (despite the fact that outside of heraldry azure specifies the color of the sky).

Ængelseaxisc: This is a Germanic language that was brought to Britain starting in the 5th century by Germanic invaders collectively referred to as Anglo-Saxons by historians. The word Ængelseaxisc would render as Anglosaxish in modern English, but historians opted to use "Anglo-Saxon" instead; the language is also called "Old English". (See also scramaseax.)

blazon: Heraldic term for the codified text which describes a heraldic emblem. As such, heraldic blazonry employs its own obscure terminology.

canting: In heraldry, canting is the use of a visual symbol based on a similarity between the name of the symbol and the name of the armiger.

charge: In heraldry, charge is the term used to designate a visual element used as a symbol.

escutcheon: Heraldic term for a shield when used as a symbolic element in a heraldic/armorial emblem. The escutcheon is usually the central visual element of a heraldic emblem. In heraldry the word escutcheon is unfortunately limited to usually implying only the semi-triangular shape known as a "heater" shield. The word escutcheon has the same etymological origin as the Italian word scudo.

Franks: The Franks were the collective of Germanic tribes united under the Merovingian line of kings, which made the Merovingians the first French dynasty.

Germanic: The word Germanic is an umbrella term for a family of related languages and the peoples who spoke/speak them, originating in the Nordic Bronze Age. These languages include (but are not limited to) Afrikaans, Ængelseaxisc, Danish, Dutch, English, Flemish, Frankish, German, Gothic, Icelandic, Lombardic, Luxembourgish, Norwegian, Norse, Pennadeitsch, Saxon, Swedish, and Yiddish.

heraldry: The practice of using a collection of visual symbols to specify an individual or a group. The word heraldry can also be used to reference a visual emblem which results from such practice.

ki (rhymes with eye): A deliberate "mispronunciation" of the Japanese word ki (pronounced like key), both to verbally differentiate it from the English word key and to queue that our use of the term is inspired by the Asian idea but not equivalent to it. Ki is a nonspecific grouping of all incoming information that cannot be readily attributed to the standard five senses, grouped as such for the sake of convenience of communication. In common speech it is perhaps most synonymous with intuition. Our concept of ki is approached experientially and pragmatically, but unlike energetic conceptualizations which posit the existence of a ki energy, our pragmatic approach to the concept of ki is divorced from any attempted theory of underlying metaphysical mechanisms. Sometimes one must quiet the mind in order to truly perceive.

misura: Italian word which translates as "measure/range/distance/space", and is a key term used throughout the manuals of famed Italian scrimitor Fiore dei Liberi. As all physical skirmishes occur within physical space, a scrimitor must be aware of misura at all times. Misura is one of three determinants of victory in any skirmish, with the other two being audatia and tempo.

plenitude: In heraldry, the adjective phrase "in [her] plenitude" is used to clarify that a moon is full. The phrase usually implies the inclusion of a human face on the moon, but published definitions do not always explicitly specify such. Further, placing another charge upon a full moon makes including a face visually problematic, so we append "sans visage" to the phrase so as to explicitly exclude the face. We deliberately specify our "escutcheon" (scudo rotondo) as a moon so that a digital rendering of our heraldic emblem can include the surface of the Moon as a modern heraldic "tincture".

sable: Heraldic term for the color "black".

sahaja: Hindi word meaning "nature within". Outside of Hindu circles, sahaja is sometimes called "The Acorn Principle" due to a book by that name. An acorn does not need to decide what type of tree it will become; it simply needs to be nurtured with water and sunlight and its inner nature will lead it to become a mighty oak.

Sanfratello: Surname of a Sicilian-American family that can trace their line to approximately 11th century Sicily. Throughout the centuries the Sanfratellos have maintained a tradition of passing their martial skills such as swordsmanship from one generation to the next. The family also acquired new martial skills throughout the centuries through methods such as military training. In the current generation, Sal Sanfratello offers classes to the public in his family's style.

schiavona (skee-ah-VOH-nah): A truncation of the Italian term spada schiavona, meaning "sword of the Schiavoni". A schiavona is a type of Italian basket-hilted sword [ideally] weighted and balanced to be maximally versatile for slashing, thrusting, and defense. An ideal schiavona is the sword of choice for single-sword fighting in Sanfratello-style scrimire.

Schiavoni (skee-ah-VOH-nee): An archaic Italian ethnonym denoting Italians of Slavic descent, used in the time of the historical Republic of Venice. Today it is used as a surname among their descendants. (See also schiavona.)

scramaseax: Skirmishing blade (scrama = "skirmishing", seax = "blade") of various Germanic tribes, but especially the Saxons, whose name translates as "blade [wielders]". A scramaseax was often paired with a second blade of differing length. (See also scrima.)

scrima (SKREE-mah): Medieval Sicilian swordsmanship. The archaic Sicilian word scrima is an etymological cognate to the English word skirmishing, as they both derive from a common Germanic root word. Modern Sanfratello-style scrimire began as Sicilian scrima hundreds of years ago.

scrimire (skree-MEER-ay): The archaic Italian word scrimire is a verbal noun meaning "skirmishing/swordfighting/fencing". In Italian swordsmanship texts it usually appears as "scrimire di spada" (literally "skirmishing of sword"), such as in Giovanni Cassani's Essercitio Militare (1603). Modern Sanfratello-style scrimire began as Sicilian scrima hundreds of years ago. A practitioner of scrimire is known as a scrimitor.

scrimitor (skree-mee-tohr): A practitioner of scrimire di spada. The word scrimitor is an archaic Italian word meaning "skirmisher/swordfighter/fencer".

scudo (SKOO-doh): "Shield" in Italian. In Sanfratello-style scrimire our scudo is a round shield (scudo rotondo) (also known as a rotella), extending approximately a decimeter past knuckles and elbow, with a handle and a forearm strap. See also escutcheon.

shakti: Hindi word meaning "cosmic energy". The three core shakti are Srishti ("Production"), Sthiti ("Preservation"), and Samhriti ("Purification"). Within a scientific paradigm, these three are the core mechanisms required for the evolution of any system of patterns. Theists among Hindus consider shakti to be feminine, and personify these three shakti as the triad of goddesses known as the Tridevi.

spada (SPAH-dah): Italian word meaning "sword". See also schiavona.

systemic evolution: An abstraction of evolutionary theory generalized to describe the evolution of any system of patterns within their respective medium and context. The word evolution by itself is actually sufficient to refer to this except that the word has been narrowed via public debate to automatically imply just biological evolution; the prepended adjective systemic is actually conceptually redundant but serves to differentiate the term as pertaining to all systems, not just biological ones. The evolution of any system requires at least three mechanisms: a mechanism to produce new patterns within the system (production), a mechanism to preserve over time the patterns of highest quality throughout the system (preservation), and a mechanism to purge patterns of lowest quality from the system (purification). (See also shakti.)

tempo: Italian word which translates as "timing", and is a key notion throughout Italian schools of swordsmanship. As all skirmishes occur within the dimension which is time, timing can mean the difference between success and failure of any action. Tempo is one of three determinants of victory in any skirmish, with the other two being audatia and misura.

thon (contraction of "that one"): Singular third-person gender-neutral pronoun which first appeared in English dictionaries in 1898. Possessive form is thons and reflexive form is thonself.

Trimurti: A Hindi word meaning "three forms" to denote the divine triad of Producer, Preserver, and Purifier, which are deified forms of the three core mechanisms of evolution. (See Tridevi.)

Tridevi: A Hindi word meaning "three goddesses". In the Shaktidharma denomination of Puranic Hinduism the Tridevi are a triad of feminine personifications of the three core cosmic energies (shakti). From a scientific perspective the Tridevi can be regarded as mythological personifications of the three core mechanisms required for the evolution of any system. The three Tridevi are Mahabrahmi the Productrix, Mahalaxmi the Preservatrix, and Mahakali the Purificatrix. The most reproduced illustration of the Tridevi depicts the amalgamated triad with twelve arms holding various symbolic objects. Acting in turns the [personified] shakti drive the various cycles of the universe. Using the visible lunar phase cycle as being symbolic of all cycles found in nature (especially evolutionary cycles), the Moon in triplicate becomes a symbol of both the Tridevi and systemic evolution.

ubuntu (oo-BOON-too): A word from the language of the African Xhosa tribe which translates as "humanity" or "community". For more information read the ubuntu page.