Pantheic

[pat]

Given that theic is accepted as a rare word I tried pantheic in yesterday's 10 letter game but it was rejected. A candidate for inclusion maybe?

[Alan W]

Theic and pantheic were both unknown to me. It turns out they're not actually related.

A theic is someone who drinks excessive amounts of tea. A pantheic is NOT someone who drinks excessive amounts of many kinds of tea. It's an adjective, originally describing a statue featuring attributes of many gods. It has come to mean more generally, relating to many gods.

Pantheic is a very rare word. It's listed in the (19th century) Century Dictionary and in the OED, but not in any other dictionaries as far as I can see. Still, it is a word, so I'll allow it in future, as a rare word obviously.

[pat]

That's news to me! I thought both theic and pantheic related to theism and pantheism. But thanks for accepting it anyway, Alan.

In a similar vein, but completely unrelated to those words, when we go out at night looking for owls on birding trips we always call it owling. The same word has other owl-related meanings but a surprising meaning of that word is the act of smuggling wool or sheep out of England.

[birdy]

Hi Pat, The books I read about smuggling generally refer to illegal imports to the UK from France. I wonder if the use of "owling" is because what I think of as reverse smuggling is done in the dead of night to avoid detection. Wine bottles don't make much noise, while unhappy sheep might make a commotion.