Word of the day: oblation

ob·la·tion /ɒˈbleɪʃən/

–noun
1. the offering to god of the elements of bread and wine in the Eucharist.
2. the whole office of the Eucharist.
3. the act of making an offering, especially to a deity.
4. any offering for religious or charitable uses.

Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English oblacion < Late Latin oblātion– (stem of oblātiō ), equivalent to oblāt ( us ) ( see oblate 2 ) + –iōn– -ion

—Related forms
ob·la·to·ry /ˈɒbləˌtɔri, -ˌtoʊri/
ob·la·tion·al, adjective

Source: Dictionary.com.

The noblemen and noblewomen ahead bowed or curtsied from horseback, and those oblations were deeper this time than they had been when meeting Elayne in her throne room.

Source: Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.

Quite apart from how it’s possible to curtsy from horseback, this apparent misuse of the word ‘oblation’ indicates to me how weak Brandon Sanderson’s English is.

Words, words, words, as Hamlet said

On the subject of books, this autumn looks like being a great season for book releases from some of my favourite authors. In addition to Against All Things Ending (see below), there’s Towers of Midnight (book 13 of The Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson,

The Japanese Devil Fish Girl and Other Unnatural Attractions, by Robert Rankin,

and I just found out that there’s a new Iain M Banks book coming out – a Culture novel, no less – called Surface Detail: