Answer: ablation v ablution
There's only one letter of difference between those two words, but the difference in meaning is enormous. With a little help from our friends in The Sentinel...
Ablation (Late Latin ablatio, ablation, from Latin ablatus, past participle of auferre, to carry away) has several different, albeit linked, meanings.
There's the one referring to the erosion that wears away a glacier.
"There's been a lot of ablation in the Alpine glaciers," Blair said. "Many of them are only a fraction as long now as they were a century ago."
There are two slightly different usages in space flight, although basically they mean the same thing. One is the dissipation of heat generated by friction as a space craft enters the atmosphere; the other is the melting of heat-protective surface material on a heat shield during re-entry.
"I'm not sure I'd like to go to the Moon and back," Jim said as he and Blair watched a TV program about Apollo 13. "I know the ablation on re-entry is planned, but I sure wouldn't like to sit on top of a melting heat shield!"
Finally, ablation is a medical term referring to a surgical excision of tissue or the amputation of a body part.
"There's been ablation here," Dan Wolfe told Jim, indicating a scar on the arm of the body he was examining. "I would guess that the victim has had a tattoo removed by an amateur."
Ablution comes from Middle English ablucioun, deriving from the Latin ablutus, past participle of abluere, to wash away.
Jim would be completely familiar with the word ablution (often ablutions) which is a (usually) military term for getting washed.
When he was in the army, Jim quickly lost any feelings of modesty he might have had because there was no privacy when the men performed their ablutions.
Blair, on the other hand, would be more familiar with the word as a reference to washing as part of a religious rite.
"Shamanic ablution in these tribes is very thorough, and carried out in privacy," Blair told his class. "Well, private except for his assistant or assistants, who are most likely to be his apprentices. They believe that no ceremony can be successfully performed unless the shaman is absolutely clean. In addition they will often consume some substance that is designed to make them sick, so that their bodies are clean inside as well as outside."
Remember, ablation is taking something away. Ablution(s) is washing yourself.
Sources
ablation
ablution
Ablation (Late Latin ablatio, ablation, from Latin ablatus, past participle of auferre, to carry away) has several different, albeit linked, meanings.
There's the one referring to the erosion that wears away a glacier.
"There's been a lot of ablation in the Alpine glaciers," Blair said. "Many of them are only a fraction as long now as they were a century ago."
There are two slightly different usages in space flight, although basically they mean the same thing. One is the dissipation of heat generated by friction as a space craft enters the atmosphere; the other is the melting of heat-protective surface material on a heat shield during re-entry.
"I'm not sure I'd like to go to the Moon and back," Jim said as he and Blair watched a TV program about Apollo 13. "I know the ablation on re-entry is planned, but I sure wouldn't like to sit on top of a melting heat shield!"
Finally, ablation is a medical term referring to a surgical excision of tissue or the amputation of a body part.
"There's been ablation here," Dan Wolfe told Jim, indicating a scar on the arm of the body he was examining. "I would guess that the victim has had a tattoo removed by an amateur."
Ablution comes from Middle English ablucioun, deriving from the Latin ablutus, past participle of abluere, to wash away.
Jim would be completely familiar with the word ablution (often ablutions) which is a (usually) military term for getting washed.
When he was in the army, Jim quickly lost any feelings of modesty he might have had because there was no privacy when the men performed their ablutions.
Blair, on the other hand, would be more familiar with the word as a reference to washing as part of a religious rite.
"Shamanic ablution in these tribes is very thorough, and carried out in privacy," Blair told his class. "Well, private except for his assistant or assistants, who are most likely to be his apprentices. They believe that no ceremony can be successfully performed unless the shaman is absolutely clean. In addition they will often consume some substance that is designed to make them sick, so that their bodies are clean inside as well as outside."
Remember, ablation is taking something away. Ablution(s) is washing yourself.
Sources
ablation
ablution