tesseran.
/ˈtɛsərə/ 1.
a. Ancient History. A small quadrilateral tablet of wood, bone, ivory, or the like, used for various purposes, as a token, tally, ticket, label, etc. tessera of hospitality (= Latin tessera hospitalis), a die broken between host and guest, and kept as a means of recognition.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > that which identifies or distinguishes > labelling > [noun] > label, tag, or ticket
bill1474
schedule1523
label?1577
libel1603
tessera1656
check1812
price ticket1830
etiquette1831
sticker1862
tag1864
price tag1880
tab1883
tally1909
mailing label1959
swing-ticket1962
swing label1968
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Tessera, a thing in every part square as a dye; also a watchword, or signal, a note, mark or token, &c.
1846 T. Keightley Notes Bucolics & Georgics of Virgil 247 In the ancient theatres..each spectator's tessera designated the cuneus and row in which he was to sit.
1850 J. Leitch tr. K. O. Müller Ancient Art (new ed.) §412. 569 One brings him a tessera of hospitality from Sisyphus.
1886 Guide Exhib. Galleries Brit. Mus. 186 Objects in bone and ivory, such as caskets, gladiatorial tesseræ, tickets for the theatre, dice.
b. figurative. A distinguishing sign or token; a watchword, a password. (The earliest use in English.)
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > that which identifies or distinguishes > [noun]
tokenc1000
distinctionc1374
differencea1398
signeta1425
knowledge?c1475
smell?a1505
markc1522
badge1529
note1583
impress1590
monument1590
type1595
stamp1600
pressure1604
mintage1612
criterion1613
impressa1628
differencer1633
lineament1638
mole1644
discrimination1646
tessera1647
diagnostic1651
monumental1657
discretive1660
signate1662
footmark1666
trait1752
memorandum1766
fingerprint1792
insignia1796
identifier1807
designative1824
cachet1840
differentiator1854
tanga1867
trademark1869
signature1873
totem1875
differential1883
earmarkings1888
paw print1894
discriminator1943
ident1952
society > communication > indication > that which identifies or distinguishes > word or cry > [noun] > password
token1377
worda1500
watchworda1513
countersign1598
nayworda1616
tessera1647
counter-word1678
password1799
hard word1830
token pledge1896
tryst-word1896
1647 Bp. J. Taylor Θεολογία Ἐκλεκτική i. 17 That Creed made so explicite as a tessera of a Christian.
1656 [see sense 1a]. 1662 J. Owen Animadv. Fiat Lux ii, in Wks. (1855) XIV. 29 Making subjection to the pope in all things the tessera and rule of all church communion.
1795 in Coll. Dying Testimonies (1806) 460 Exacts it from them as a tessera of their loyalty.
1890 Hatch Hibbert Lect. xii. 344 It was, so to speak, a tessera or password.
2.
a. spec. Each of the small square (usually cubical) pieces of marble, glass, tile, etc., of which a mosaic pavement or the like is composed. Usually in plural.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > mosaic > [noun] > materials
tessella1693
smalto1705
mosaic gold1728
abaciscus1753
tessera1797
smalt1852
tesson1858
abaculus1868
1797 S. Lysons Acct. Rom. Antiq. Woodchester 4 The tesseræ of which this [mosaic] pavement is composed, are, for the most part, nearly cubes of half an inch... Many are triangular, and of various other shapes.
1843 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 6 125/1 The next point to be observed with reference to the Roman tesseræ, is the want of uniformity in their size and shape.
1894 Times 5 Mar. 14/1 The workmen had to learn to set the tesseræ, one by one and each in its proper place, into the cement on the wall.
b. transferred. Any one of the quadrilateral divisions into which a surface is divided by intersecting lines; e.g. by the lines of latitude and longitude.
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the world > space > relative position > condition or fact of being interjacent > [noun] > that which is interjacent > and separates two things > a surface > part into which surface is divided
tessera1873
1873 J. C. Maxwell Treat. Electr. & Magn. (1881) I. 198 So that the spherical surface is divided into quadrilaterals or tesseræ..bounded by meridian circles and parallels of latitude.
c. Zoology. Each of the plates of which the carapace of an armadillo is composed.
ΚΠ
1909 in Cent. Dict. Suppl.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > other manufactured or derived materials > [noun] > composition used for roofing
tessera1815
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 257 John's tessera is the only composition of art which deserves any notice as a roofing material.
1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. Gloss. 1045 Tessera... This name was..applied to a composition used some years ago for covering flat roofs, but now..quite abandoned.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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