Saunt: {1} In New Orth, a term of veneration applied to great thinkers, almost always posthumously. Note: this word was accepted only in the Millennial Orth Convox of A.R. 3000. Prior to then it was considered a misspelling of Savant. In stone, where only upper-case letters are used, this is rendered SAVANT {or ST. if the stonecarver is running out of space}. During the decline of standards in the decades that followed the Third Sack, a confusion between the letters U and V grew commonplace {the "lazy stonecarver problem"}, and many began to mistake the word for SAUANT. This soon degenerated to saunt {now accepted} and even sant {still deprecated}. In written form, St. may be used as an abbreviation for any of these. Within some traditional orders it is still pronounced "Savant" and obviously the same is probably true among Millenarians. -THE DICTIONARY, 4th edition, A.R. 3000
( Neal Stephenson )
[ Anathem ]
www.QuoteSweet.com