Oblate
WordNet
adjective
(1) Having the equatorial diameter greater than the polar diameter; being flattened at the poles
noun
(2) A lay person dedicated to religious work or the religious life
WiktionaryText
Etymology 1
From French oblat and its source, post-classical Latin oblatus ‘person dedicated to religious life’, a noun use of the past participle of offerre ‘to offer’.
Noun
- A person dedicated to a life of religion or monasticism, especially a member of an order without religious vows or a lay member of a religious community.
- A child given up by its parents into the keeping or dedication of a religious order or house.
- 2007: The Venerable Bede started as an oblate at St Paul's, Jarrow, but by the time of his death in 735 was surely the most learned man in Europe. — Tom Shippey, ‘I Lerne Song’, London Review of Books 29:4, p. 19
Etymology 2
From , from + , (modelled after ).
Adjective
- Flattened or depressed at the poles.
- 1922: Why should I not speak to him or to any human being who walks upright upon this oblate orange? — James Joyce, Ulysses
- 1997: ‘ ’Tis prolate, still,’ with a long dejected Geordie O. ‘Isn’t it…?’ ‘I’m an Astronomer,– trust me, ’tis gone well to oblate.’ — Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon