Volcano

Volcano
   , VULCANIZATION
   The English language is indebted to Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, for some important words. One is vulcanization, the name of a process invented by Charles Goodyear to make rubber stronger, more elastic, resistant to solvents, and unaffected by normal heat and cold. So important is this invention that almost all rubber today is vulcanized. Another is volcano, a vent in the earth's crust through which lava, steam, and ashes are thrown up.
   Vulcanus, or Vulcan as he is known in English, lived a most unusual life. He was thrown into the sea by his mother because he was born lame. According to another version, Vulcan sided with Juno, his mother, against Jupiter, his father. Jupiter thereupon hurled him from heaven. He was nine days in falling and was saved by the people of Lemnos from crashing to earth, but one leg was broken, hence his lameness. Vulcan, as the god of fire, became the armorer of the gods. His workshops were under Mount Etna in Sicily and in the bowels of volcanoes; the Cyclops assisted him in forging thunderbolts for Jupiter. Vulcan was consumed by amatory desires, not only his own but also his wife's. He was married to Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. One day Vulcan learned that she was disporting herself with Mars. He schemed to embarrass them by constructing an invisible net that descended around their bed during their lovemaking. While they were still embracing, Vulcan summoned the other gods to look and laugh at the guilty pair.
   A vulcanist subscribes to the theory that fire has changed the earth's surface. At one time the earth was in a state of igneous fusion, and its crust has gradually cooled down to its present temperature. The planet Vulcan, a creation of writers of Star Trek, was the former home of its most distinguished character, the unflappable Mr. Spock.

Dictionary of eponyms. . 2013.

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  • Volcano — (volcán en inglés) puede referirse a: Lugares: Islas: Islas Volcano, en Japón; Localidades: Volcano, pueblo en el estado estadounidense de California; Mundo (California), área no incorporada en el estado estadounidense de California,… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Volcano — Студийный альбом Satyricon Дата выпуска 25 октября 2002 Жанр …   Википедия

  • Volcano W — Bild gesucht  BWf1 Höhe 900 m unter d …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • volcano- — ❖ ♦ Élément de mots composés, tiré de volcan, et signifiant « volcanique et… » Ex. : volcano sédimentaire, adj. || « Trois couches (…) comportant des niveaux volcano sédimentaires assez grossiers » (la Recherche, janv. 1981, p. 734); volcano… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Volcano — Vol*ca no, n.; pl. {Volcanoes}. [It. volcano, vulcano, fr. L. Vulcanus Vulkan, the god of fire. See {Vulkan}.] (Geol.) A mountain or hill, usually more or less conical in form, from which lava, cinders, steam, sulphur gases, and the like, are… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Volcano — Volcano, HI U.S. Census Designated Place in Hawaii Population (2000): 2231 Housing Units (2000): 1229 Land area (2000): 56.679805 sq. miles (146.800015 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 56.679805… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Volcano, HI — U.S. Census Designated Place in Hawaii Population (2000): 2231 Housing Units (2000): 1229 Land area (2000): 56.679805 sq. miles (146.800015 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 56.679805 sq. miles… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • volcano — (n.) 1610s, from It. vulcano burning mountain, from L. Vulcanus Vulcan, Roman god of fire, also fire, flames, volcano (see VULCAN (Cf. Vulcan)). The name was first applied to Mt. Etna by the Romans, who believed it was the forge of Vulcan …   Etymology dictionary

  • volcano — [väl kā′nō, vôlkā′nō] n. pl. volcanoes or volcanos [It < L Volcanus,VULCAN] 1. a vent in the earth s crust through which molten rock (lava), rock fragments, gases, ashes, etc. are ejected from the earth s interior: a volcano is active while… …   English World dictionary

  • Volcāno — Volcāno, 1) Insel aus der Gruppe der Liparischen Inseln, hat feuerspeienden Berg von 1200 Fuß Höhe mit 2 Kratern u. einer Solfatara; viel Schwefel u. Kaninchen; 190 Ew.; 2) Insel aus dem Archipelagus Santa Cruz (Westliches Polynesien), mit einem… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • volcano — index outburst Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

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