Saunt

First Appearance and Context

An in-world dictionary entry (4th edition, A.R. 3000) defines "Saunt" as a term of veneration for great thinkers, almost always posthumously. The entry traces its acceptance to the Millennial Orth Convox and notes the long history of spelling, pronunciation, and stone-carving practices surrounding the term. Related historical notes also connect specific faculties within a concent to their patron saunts.

Role and function

Saunt is an honorific used by members of the mathic world, especially the Avout, to designate revered thinkers. Usage is typically posthumous and signals canonical esteem within mathic tradition. The title is frequently attached to personal names (e.g., "Saunt Taunga"), indicating a figure whose work or example is held up for study and emulation. Institutions may be named for such figures, as with the Concent of Saunt Edhar.

Orthography and Variants

Historically, stone inscriptions employed uppercase lettering, rendering the word as "SAVANT" or, when space was tight, as an abbreviation "ST." During periods of declining standards following the Third Sack, confusion between the letters U and V became common (the "lazy stonecarver" problem), giving rise to forms like "SAUANT." Over time, lower-case "saunt" became accepted usage; "sant" is still deprecated in formal contexts. In written prose, "St." may be used as an abbreviation for any of these.

Relationships and references

• Patronage and faculties: In a historical reference, the Syntactic Faculty at a concent is venerated under its patron saunt—Saunt Proc for the Syntactic Faculty of the Concent of Saunt Muncoster—while its counterpart, the Semantic Faculty of the Concent of Saunt Muncoster, honors Saunt Halikaarn as patron. This illustrates how the title binds schools of thought to exemplary figures.
• Community usage: The honorific appears in naming (e.g., concents or faculties named after saunts) and in rites and chronicles maintained within maths.

Current Status

The term is in active use within mathic culture and New Orth. Spelling and pronunciation vary by tradition, but "Saunt" and its lower-case form "saunt" are standard; abbreviated "St." persists in inscriptions and writing. "Sant" remains deprecated.