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From: "Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Archaic words
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2024 07:25:55 -0500
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On 11/08/2024 23.09, David Duffy wrote:
> Christian Weisgerber <naddy@mips.inka.de> wrote:
>> On 2024-08-11, Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I'm reading Fletcher Pratt's _The Well of the Unicorn_, and have
>>> stumbled over "deserion", "deese", and "tercia". From context, I
>>> think that all of them are military terms. Maybe
>>
>> tercio  or  tercia : a Spanish or Italian infantry regiment of the
>> 16th and 17th century
> 
> Yes, 300 men strong. And a deese is most likely a platoon of, I guess,
> 10 (dix) led by a serjeant (the deserion, which I would gloss as "of
> service", as in sergeant), who owes feudal loyalty to a Count. In the case
> of Luronne, he is "a very good reasoner...[who] has had the instruction
> of the Lyceum of Anne", and Morarday is "captain and deserion to the
> Viscount..a Vulking of the war service".

Thanks to both of you!

-- 
Michael F. Stemper
The name of the story is "A Sound of Thunder".
It was written by Ray Bradbury. You're welcome.