Fwd: "travers, n." - Word of the Day from the OED

[Dave Monroe]

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From: oedwotd at oup.com
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 01:30:02 +0100
Subject: "travers, n." - Word of the Day from the OED
To: OEDWOTD-L at webber.uk.hub.oup.com

OED Online Word of the Day
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Your word for today is: travers, n.

travers, n.
[‘ Movement or a move in which a horse advances obliquely; (Dressage)
an exercise in which the horse moves parallel to the side of the
arena, with its shoulders carried closer to the wall than its
hindquarters and its body curved towards the centre. Cf. traverse v.
19b, renvers n.’]
Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈtravəs/,  U.S. /ˈtrævərs/
Forms:  18– travers,   18– traverse.
Etymology: <  French travers traverse n.; compare the specific
equestrian sense of the corresponding verb traverser to advance with
the hindquarters at an angle (see traverse v. 19b). Compare renvers n.
1733  De La Gueriniere Ecole de Cavalerie ii. i. 72 Se traverser,
c'est lorsque la croupe d'un Cheval se dérange de la piste qu'elle
doit décrire, soit en fuyant les talons, ou en alant par le droit.
 Horse Riding.
  Movement or a move in which a horse advances obliquely; (Dressage)
an exercise in which the horse moves parallel to the side of the
arena, with its shoulders carried closer to the wall than its
hindquarters and its body curved towards the centre. Cf. traverse v.
19b, renvers n.
1842 United Service Mag. Aug. 507 The horses were well set up at first
by trotting and bending lessons. ‘Epaule en dedans’ and traverse;
cantering is then practised.
1894  E. L. Anderson Curb, Snaffle, & Spur iv. 96 The horse should now
be ridden in the travers and renvers in the walk and in the united
trot.
1938  H. Wynmalen Equitation xiv. 70 In the ‘travers’, the horse's
head, neck and shoulders follow a straight track along the wall, while
his loins and quarters are bent inwards around the rider's inside leg.
1986  W. Charlton tr. E. Abel How to ride Horse 147 In the traverse,
the horse is bent and placed to the inside and moves in the direction
of the bend.
2012 Evening Standard (Nexis) 27 July 26 [When watching Olympic
dressage] use phrases like ‘leg yield’, ‘half-pass’, ‘shoulder in’ and
‘travers’ to sound knowledgeable. No one outside the rarefied world of
dressage has a clue what they mean.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/247655

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Traverse Family Tree

http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Traverse_Family_Tree
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