In article <0hncfs47vo5li2rhk2rb1tlp4roebecl28@4ax.com>, David 
Wilkinson <dav### [at] cableinetcouk> wrote:

> >Yup. Ablative (of circumstance) for the first person feminine.
> >
> Wow! I thought that was the word for those tiles they put on the outside 
> of re-entry vehicles.

From my copy of the Standard Encyclopedic Dictionary:

ablative  adj. Gram.
In some inflected languages, as Latin and Sanskrit, pertaining to a case 
expressing separation, position, motion from, instrumentality, etc. -- 
n. 1. The ablative case.  2. A word in this case.


You can see why it is used to describe a material intended to remove 
heat by vaporizing away...here is what the WWWebster 
Dictionary(http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary) says:

Main Entry: 2ab?la?tive
Pronunciation: a-'blA-tiv
Function: adjective
Date: circa 1569
1 : of or relating to ablation
2 : tending to ablate <ablative material on a nose cone>
- ab?la?tive?ly adverb 

And here is the definition of "ablate"
Main Entry: ab?late
Pronunciation: a-'blAt
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): ab?lat?ed; ab?lat?ing
Etymology: Latin ablatus (pp. of auferre to remove), from ab- + latus, 
past participle of ferre -- more at UKASE, BEAR, TOLERATE
Date: 1542
transitive senses : to remove especially by cutting, abrading, or 
evaporating
intransitive senses : to become ablated; especially : VAPORIZE 1 


Ok, so I was bored. :-)

-- 
Christopher James Huff - Personal e-mail: chr### [at] yahoocom
TAG(Technical Assistance Group) e-mail: chr### [at] tagpovrayorg
Personal Web page: http://chrishuff.dhs.org/
TAG Web page: http://tag.povray.org/

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