[Fictionary] OCTROI ballot

[eLLioTT morEton]

Checking after voting:

The OED traces it to the French verb "octroyer", of which it says: "<
Middle French, French octroyer (late 14th cent.; compare Anglo-Norman
octrier), alteration of Old French otroier ottroye v. after classical
Latin auctor auctor n. and auctorāre to authorize (see auctoration
n.)."

German "oktroyieren" does in fact mean "to impose something on
someone", says dict.cc.  Well, I guess taxes are imposed, aren't they?

Regards,
Elliott

On Sun, 18 Feb 2024, J-J Cote wrote:

> Here are a bunch of fanciful definitions for OCTROI, and one real one
> (hint: it's a noun). As usual, let me know your best guess and second-best
> guess as to the one that rings true, as well.as any comments you might want
> to add. Votes due by the end of Sunday, February 25. Replies can come to me
> at this address.
>
> Jean-Joseph
> ________________________________
>
> octroi - n. - A monarch of one of the eight states that result from the
> breakup of a kingdom.
>
> octroi - n. - The prince governors of the eight "Silver Cities" of Anatolia
> in the Seleucid Empire.
>
> octroi - n. - The set of eight caretakers assigned to provide all-hours
> vigilance at a small temple or shrine for a local deity.
>
> octroi - n. - A ring of small filaments surrounding the mouth, used by many
> bony fishes to find prey by detecting underwater vibrations and electrical
> fields.
>
> octroi - n. - A large, ornate eight-spoked wheel design featuring the
> owner's coat of arms. Popular on the coronation coaches of late 18th
> century European monarchs.
>
> octroi - n. - In the Scottish Rite, the seven member sovereign council of a
> Lodge of the Northern Jurisdiction. (Note: the council consisted of eight
> members until the reforms of 1879.)
>
> octroi - n. - (from oc troi, "against Troy") 1) A smuggler of arms to the
> Greek rebels during the Greek Wars of Independence. 2) A young man given to
> vain boasting. 3) A pretentious poet.
>
> octroi - n. - An order of men at Athens, in the time of Pericles, who had
> been proved by their mutual testimony to have ascended the Nile past the
> Seventh Cataract to its source in the eternal ice of the Equatorial
> mountains.
>
> octroi - n. - 1) A concession or privilege granted by an absolute sovereign
> and serving as a limitation on his authority. 2) a: A tax on commodities
> brought into a town or city especially in certain European countries, a
> municipal customs. b: The agency for collecting such a tax or the city
> entrance at which it is collected.
>
> Octroi - n. - The ruling council of the islands of the northern Aegean Sea,
> during at least the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE); no remaining records
> identify the full extent of its rule, but the name leads scholars to
> conclude that it controlled at least the eight largest islands (Lesbos,
> Chios (aka Scio), Lemnos, Samos, Thasos, Imbros (today Gökçeada), Icaria,
> and Samothrace) of the region..
> ________________________________
>
> joke definition: Octroi, proper noun. The eighth Deanna clone created by
> Thomas Riker trying to recreate the transporter accident that created him.
>