Word of the Day : April 17, 2020

the symbolic staff of a herald;specifically : a representation of a staff with two entwined snakes and twowings at the top

"The tattoo starts at Harry Crider'sleft shoulder…. It's a caduceus—a long staff, wrapped by intertwining snakesand topped with a pair of wings." — Zach Osterman, The Indianapolis Star,20 Sept. 2019"Symbols commonly associated with themedical or pharmaceutical professions would also be prohibited from being usedby cultivation facilities or dispensaries under SB441. Items specificallymentioned include a cross of any color, a caduceus, 'or any symbol that iscommonly associated with the practice of medicine, the practice of pharmacy, orhealth care in general.'" — Scott Liles, The Baxter Bulletin (MountainHome, Arkansas), 28 Feb. 2019譯：「紋身從哈利·克裡德的左肩開始……那是一根手杖——一根長長的手杖，纏繞著蛇，頂端有一對翅膀。」——扎克·奧斯特曼，《印第安納波利斯星報》，2019年9月20日「根據SB441法案，通常與醫學或製藥行業相關的符號也將被禁止用於種植設施或配藥所。特別提到的物品包括任何顏色的十字架、手杖或任何通常與醫學實踐、藥學實踐或衛生保健相關的符號。——斯科特·萊爾斯，《巴克斯特公報》(阿肯色州芒特霍姆)，2019年2月28日
The Greek god Hermes, who served as heraldand messenger to the other gods, carried a winged staff entwined with twosnakes. The staff of Aesculapius, the god of healing, had one snake and nowings. The word caduceus, from Latin, is a modification of Greek karykeion,from karyx, meaning "herald." Strictly speaking, caduceus shouldrefer only to the staff of the herald-god Hermes (Mercury to the Romans), butin practice the word is often applied to the one-snake staff as well. You mightlogically expect the staff of Aesculapius to be the symbol of the medicalprofession—and indeed, that is the symbol used by the American MedicalAssociation. But you will also quite frequently see the true caduceus used as amedical symbol.譯：希臘神赫爾墨斯是眾神的傳令官和信使，他手中拿著一根有翼的杖，上面纏繞著兩條蛇。醫治之神埃斯克勒庇俄斯的杖只有一條蛇，沒有翅膀。caduceus這個詞來自拉丁語，是希臘語karykeion的變形，來自karyx，意思是「先驅」。嚴格地說，caduceus應該只指紋章之神赫爾墨斯(墨丘利指羅馬人)的權杖，但實際上這個詞也經常用來指單蛇權杖。從邏輯上講，你可能認為埃斯庫拉皮烏斯的手杖是醫學專業的象徵，事實上，這也是美國醫學協會所使用的標誌。但你也會經常看到真正的丟屍像被用作醫學符號。