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boustrophedon

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boustrophedon


  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Boustrophedon  \Bou`stro*phe"don\,  n.  [Gr.  ?  turning  like  oxen  in 
  plowing;  ?  to  turn.] 
  An  ancient  mode  of  writing,  in  alternate  directions,  one  line 
  from  left  to  right  and  the  next  from  right  to  left  (as 
  fields  are  plowed),  as  in  early  Greek  and  Hittite. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  boustrophedon 
  n  :  an  ancient  writing  system:  having  alternate  lines  written  in 
  opposite  directions;  literally  "as  the  ox  ploughs" 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  boustrophedon  n.  [from  a  Greek  word  for  turning  like  an  ox 
  while  plowing]  An  ancient  method  of  writing  using  alternate  left-to-right 
  and  right-to-left  lines.  This  term  is  actually  philologists'  techspeak 
  and  typesetters'  jargon.  Erudite  hackers  use  it  for  an  optimization 
  performed  by  some  computer  typesetting  software  and  moving-head  printers. 
  The  adverbial  form  `boustrophedonically'  is  also  found  (hackers  purely 
  love  constructions  like  this). 
 
 




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