[net.nlang] Meaning of Gon-Teilung

gmf@uvacs.UUCP (04/08/84)

In my earlier xmsn about the meaning of "Gon-Teilung" in German,
I made a couple of conjectures about the origin of the "Gon".  I
suddenly realized just now that it no doubt comes from the ancient
Greek  gonia  (where o is omega), meaning angle (related to  gonu ,
the word for knee -- where o is omicron and u is ypsilon (upsilon?)).
Of course, this word appears in goniometry, polygon and many other words.

My thanks to those who have informed me that "Gon-Teilung" refers
to English  grads  (german  Neugrad ), which uses the subdivision
of circles into 400 parts instead of 360.

          Gordon Fisher