In the previous post we’ve seen that a sharp-point, being essential for piercing or penetrating, is also responsible for the appearance of a small entrance, that might explain why acies is able to name the pupil of the eye.
I’ll now introduce one other characteristic of the pupil that I think it’s important: its being stationed in the center of the iris… The noun center derives from Latin centrum, the stationary foot of the compass, around which the other is carried in making a circle – by metonymy, the middle point of a circle, the centre. This Latin word derived from Greek kentrum, any sharp point; of animals, sting of bees and wasps (just like Latin acumen as we’ve already seen…). The Latin centrum gave origin to centrosus, the central point, hence, in the most inward, internal place.
The Greek word that denotes the inmost point is akria, that could be used in relation to muelos (marrow), meaning the spinal marrow – that we’ve found in the second part of “On verses and signs congregated around the origin”, as being a part of the central nervous system, and the place to which is sent all information apprehended by the senses. From akria, other words derived, like akribhs, exact, accurate, precise; and akribwma, exact knowledge.
Let’s now see the marrow, conveyed by Latin medulla, also meaning the pith, inside, kernel, metaphorically used to denote the innermost, best part. In English, the central kernel of a nut or seed is named nucleus. In Latin, nucleus was basically a little nut, a sense that allowed other meanings to emerge, such as the hard, uneatable kernel, as well as the kernel, the inner part, inside of a thing. The verb that denotes the breaking of the shell is enucleo, a derivation from nucleus, figuratively meaning to lay open, make clear, explain, hence, clear, pure, unadulterated; and as a substantive, its plural form was the name for the essence, the condensed meaning. The Arabic root that alludes to the breaking of nuts, almonds, etc, and to the the pure, or best, part is لب (lb). We have already found it in the fourth part  of “On verses and signs congregated around the origin”, where I’ve said that because of its associating the edible heart of nuts, almond with understanding, the root is defining a certain “type of knowledge or understanding that has its origin on the capability of being able to look at the inside, at the center of something that is hidden – a notion that is rendered clear in English language through the noun insight, literally, a sight or view into the interior.”
In the second part of this article, I’ve suggested that “the motive why [such] a piercing is associated with acute vision probably has to do with the fact that whenever a hole is bored on a surface, light penetrates through, illuminating its interior. And this is, essentially, what is done, or allowed, by the pupil…” In fact, with noun punctum, we’ve seen how it went from denoting that which is pricked or pricked in, to designating a small hole. One synonym of hole is an opening – and Arabic language clearly states that the pupil is the gate, or door, of the eyes (بوب العين).
Let us now stop for a moment in order to understand what we’re talking about when we talk about an entrance, or aperture. First of all, dictionaries define aperture as being an opening, such as a hole, gap, or slit. But, what’s a fact is that we may get a whole different idea if we analyze Latin verb aperio (the source of aperture), that has more to do with the sense of to uncover, or lay bare, hence the meanings to unclose, open. You might think that this is an insignificant detail, as the English verb itself may also mean having no protecting or concealing cover, which implicitly alludes to the previous existence of a cover that has been removed… Anyway, if this is true, what’s also evident is that this particular meaning is referent to the idea of a protection that has been removed, whereas aperio is not alluding in any way to that cover being any sort of protection. In just the opposite way, the Latin verb points to the opening of an entrance to, and the fact that something is rendered accessible is what explains why, in relation to mental objects, it means to disclose something unknown, reveal, make known; and why it was used metaphorically as meaning clear, plain, evident, manifest, in opposition to that which is concealed, covered, dark. And, what’s more, the expression oculos aperire, that is, to open one’s eyes, is one other way of saying to make [someone] discern. These same relations are found in aperio‘s equivalent in Arabic. In fact, فتح (fth) not only means an opening and to open, but also made it to be unrestricted and to explain, inform.
The Arabic root for gate or door, بوب (bub) also means to make things to be divided into kinds, or sorts; and the division that is made according to distinct items, articles, or categories. It is important to say that this is the sort of orderly division that allows articles or items to be distributed under distinct heads – like what happens when one divides a book into chapters. So, this meaning lead us to the consideration of a disposing, an arranging of distinct elements according to classes or categories. The noun class defines a group whose elements share certain attributes, that is, specific traits that are only common to those elements. So, basically, the disposing of items to which بوب refers to, deals with the idea of an orderly arrangement whose criterion seems to be the attention paid to attributes that are only common to certain individuals – which may be considered side by side with aperio’s discernment.

In the next post, I will show you examples confirming that the inmost part, or center, is associated with a circle and fixedness…

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When I was finishing my article “On verses and signs congregated around the origin”, I’ve noticed one very interesting detail in the Arabic root conveying the meaning ayat, the word used in the Qur’an to both name its verses and the signs of God: the fact that اى is formed by the first and last letters of Arabic alphabet. In my native language, the word az is formed in just the same way: that is, with the first and last letters, of Portuguese alphabet. And this apparently minute detail sparked the most curious of expeditions…

The first meaning of the word az denotes the blade, the flat cutting part of a sharpened weapon or tool. This word derived from Latin acies, a sharp edge or point (of a sword, dagger, etc), probably originating in Greek akh, point, and akhis, pointed object. From this notion of a sharp edge or point, the word came to be used to name both the army drawn up in order of battle, and, in relation to the sense or faculty of vision, sharpness of vision or sight. If you have read “On verses and signs congregated around the origin”, you’ll immediately notice that it is as tough I’m following the same track… In fact, in that article, I think that one of the things that catches the attention is the seeing how verses and signs seem to be an intrinsic part of what I would call a military complex, that was even able to embrace concepts referent to the nature of languages, as I’ve shown in the last part LINK of the previously mentioned article.
Let us go back to acies, that has one other surprise for us: the denoting the pupil of the eye. The pupil is a round, black hole in the center of the iris. Its colour originates in the lack of light in the internal part of the eye, that can only hope to receive it through the pupil, that acts as an entrance allowing light to enter. In other species, pupils are vertical slits, like in cats, whereas goats, for instance, have horizontal pupils. This difference of shape serves distinct purposes in each of the species. In the case of human beings, the round shape of our pupil is what allows both peripheral vision and concentration on a single point. It is interesting to point out that peripheral vision is a term that defines itself by opposition to central vision, which clearly denounces the greater importance given to the later. Basically, peripheral vision is the one occurring outside the central point to which eyes gaze at. This type of vision is weaker in humans when compared with other species, and this is simply because receptor cells on our retinas are located in a greater number at the center. So, basically, human eyes’ ability to focus on a central point is what sets us apart from all other species in what vision is concerned. Furthermore, this same feature is at the very base of such notions as aiming towards a goal, with aiming meaning both to direct (a weapon) toward an intended target and a purpose or intention toward which one’s efforts are directed. That such a feat is based on a specific feature of the pupil, its shape to be accurate, is not insignificant, as I will try to evidence in this article.
So, till now, and because of its derivation from acies, Portuguese word az showed us that the cutting part of weapons or tools is associated with sharp point, which was used figuratively to describe a certain type of vision: both cutting and piercing, which is rendered possible by the pupil of the eye… In the next post I will try to clarify this interconnection a bit more.

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