A Lesbian rule was historically a flexible mason's rule made of lead that could be bent to the curves of a molding, and used to measure or reproduce irregular curves.[1][2][3] Lesbian rules were originally constructed of a pliable kind of lead found on the island of Lesbos.[citation needed] It is from the island that the ruler gets its name.
Figurative allusions
The rule is alluded to by Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics (book V, chapter 14) as a metaphor for the importance of flexibility in equitable justice:
See also
- Flat spline – Long flexible batten used to produce a fair curve through a set of points
- French curve – Template made from metal, wood or plastic composed of segments of smooth curves
- Profile gauge – Tool for recording the cross-sectional shape of a surface
References
- 1 2 "lesbian rule". Oxford English Dictionary (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ↑ Loughlin, Gerard (2007). Queer Theology: Rethinking the Western Body. Blackwell. ISBN 9780470766262.
- ↑ Magee, Maggie; Miller, Diana C. (1997). Lesbian Lives: Psyschoanalytic Narratives Old and New. Routledge. p. 36.
- ↑ Aristotle (1934). "Nicomachean Ethics, Book 5 Chapter 10". Translated by Rackham, H.
- ↑ Thomas More to Martin Dorp, in Kinney, Daniel, ed. (1986). The Complete Works of Sir Thomas More. Vol. 15. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-300-03161-4.
- ↑ Daniel, Samuel (1603). "To Sir Tho: Egerton Knight". A Panegyrike Congratulatorie delivered to the Kings Most Excellent Maiestie at Burleigh Harrington in Rutlandshire ... Also certaine epistles. London. p. C3v. (subscription required)
- ↑ Vine, Angus (2010). In Defiance of Time: antiquarian writing in early modern England. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-19-956619-8.
- ↑ Vico, Giambattista (1990). On the Study of Methods of Our Time. Cornell: Cornell University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0801497780.