FW: [MR] Coronation Curia - New Orders?

[Greg Lindahl]

On Wed, Sep 19, 2001 at 02:35:25PM -0400, Robert J Welenc wrote:

> Order of the Manatee 
> Manatee  — Merriam-Webster Online
> http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary dates the word to
> 1555.  Etymology: Spanish manat{i'}

http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/english/emed/patterweb.html lets you
search a bunch of early dictionaries, and "manat" gives this:

(1) Florio (Florio 1598 @ 18097374)

Manatto, a kinde of excellent fish in India, round in shape, with two feete, and a head like a calfe.

(2) Minsheu (Minsheu 1599 @ 24601187)

[*]Manat['i]s, a fishe in the Indies, hauing a face like a man.

(3) Cotgrave (Cotgrave 1611 @ 33975828)

Manat: [m.] [A monstrous Indian fish that resembles an Oxe and hath a flat backe, and a verie thicke skin.]

Florio is an Italian/English dictionary.
Minsheu is a Spanish/English dictionary.
Cotgrave is a French/English dictionary.

Gregory Blount, dictionary fanatic