armilla

[ ahr-mil-uh ]

/ ɑrˈmɪl ə /

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QUIZZES

Set some time apart to test your bracket symbol knowledge, and see if you can keep your parentheses, squares, curlies, and angles all straight!

Question 1 of 7

Let’s start with some etymology: What are the origins of the typographical word “bracket”?

By the Romans it was called armilla, brachiale, occabus; and in the middle ages bauga, armispatha.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 3|Various
The first was an equinoctial, the second a solstitial armilla.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 5|Various
Unfortunately no account could be obtained of the circumstances under which the Slateford Armilla was discovered.
The Archaeology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland|Daniel Wilson
A brass armilla tolomæi was one of the instruments supplied to Martin Frobisher in 1576, price £4, 6s.
The Sailor's Word-Book|William Henry Smyth

The procession moved slowly forward, and paused at the village of Armilla, at the distance of half a league from the city.
Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada|Washington Irving