Ait

An ait (pronounced /eɪt/, like "eight") or eyot (pronounced /aɪət/, /aɪt/, or /eɪt/) is a small island. It is especially used to refer to river islands found on the River Thames and its tributaries in England.

Aits are typically formed by the deposition of sediment in the water, which accumulates over a period of time. An ait is characteristically long and narrow, and may become a permanent island. However, aits may also be eroded: the resulting sediment is deposited further downstream and could result in another ait. A channel with numerous aits is called a braided channel.

References in literature

Although not common in 21st-century English, "ait" or "eyot" appears in J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Charles Dickens' Bleak House, and Thackeray's Vanity Fair.

Joyce Cary used "eyot" in The Horse's Mouth – "Sun was in the bank. Streak of salmon below. Salmon trout above soaking into wash blue. River whirling along so fast that its skin was pulled into wrinkles like silk dragged over the floor. Shot silk. Fresh breeze off the eyot. Sharp as spring frost. Ruffling under the silk-like muscles in a nervous horse. Ruffling under my grief like ice and hot daggers."

William Aiton

William Aiton (1731 – 2 February 1793) was a Scottish botanist.

Aiton was born near Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Philip Miller, then superintendent of the Chelsea Physic Garden. In 1759 he was appointed director of the newly established botanical garden at Kew, where he remained until his death. He effected many improvements at the gardens, and in 1789 he published Hortus Kewensis, a catalogue of the plants cultivated there. He is buried at nearby St. Anne's Church, Kew.

A second and enlarged edition of the Hortus was brought out in 1810–1813 by his eldest son.

Selected publications

References

Bibliography

AIT

AIT may refer to:

Geography

Government

Schools and education

In India

In the United States

Rebus

A rebus is an allusional device that uses pictures to represent words or parts of words. It was a favourite form of heraldic expression used in the Middle Ages to denote surnames.

For example, in its basic form, three salmon (fish) are used to denote the surname "Salmon". A more sophisticated example was the rebus of Bishop Walter Lyhart (d.1472) of Norwich, consisting of a stag (or hart) lying down in a conventional representation of water.

The composition alludes to the name, profession or personal characteristics of the bearer, and speaks to the beholder Non verbis, sed rebus, which Latin expression signifies "not by words but by things" (res, rei (f), a thing, object, matter; rebus being ablative plural).

Rebuses within heraldry

Rebuses are used extensively as a form of heraldic expression as a hint to the name of the bearer; they are not synonymous with canting arms. A man might have a rebus as a personal identification device entirely separate from his armorials, canting or otherwise. For example, Sir Richard Weston (d.1541) bore as arms: Ermine, on a chief azure five bezants, whilst his rebus, displayed many times in terracotta plaques on the walls of his mansion Sutton Place, Surrey, was a "tun" or barrel, used to designate the last syllable of his surname.

Rebus (disambiguation)

A rebus is a kind of word puzzle that uses pictures to represent words or parts of words.

Rebus may also refer to:

Rebus (TV series)

Rebus is the title of the detective drama TV series based on the Inspector Rebus novels by the Scottish author Ian Rankin set in and around Edinburgh. The series was produced by STV Productions (previously known as "SMG Productions") for the ITV network.

Four series have been aired; series 1 and 2 starred John Hannah and was made for STV by his own production company, Clerkenwell Films. A new cast featuring Ken Stott as DI John Rebus was introduced for the third and subsequent series (which went into production in 2005, made in-house by STV).

Episodes

Series 1: 2000

Series 2: 2001

Series 3: 2006

Series 4: 2006

Series 5: 2007

Cast

Differences between the Hannah and Stott eras

The first four episodes, starring John Hannah, are very different in both format and style. John Hannah's interpretation of the inspector is deeper. His thoughts are often announced to the viewers (which never occurs in Ken Stott's appearances).

Series revival

In February 2008, ITV announced that it had cancelled the drama series, amid reports that Ken Stott had told producers he did not want to continue in the role of Rebus. ITV indicated that "one-off specials are a possibility for the future."