MASCHERONI

mascheroni, lorenzo (1750-1800), italian geometer, was professor of mathematics at the university of pavia, and published a variety of mathematical works, the best known of which is his _geometria del compasso_ (pavia, 1797), a collection of geometrical constructions in which the use of the circle alone is postulated. many of the solutions are most ingenious, and some of the constructions of considerable practical importance. there is a french translation by a. m. carette (paris, 1798), who also wrote a biography of mascheroni. see poggendorff, _biog. lit. handworterbuch_. mascot (fr. slang: perhaps from port. _mascotto_, "witchcraft"), the term for any person, animal, or thing supposed to bring luck. the word was first popularized by edmond audran through his comic opera _la mascotte_ (1880), but it had been common in france long before among gamblers. it has been traced back to a dialectic use in provence and gascony, where it meant something which brought luck to a household. the suggestion that it is from _masque_ (masked or concealed), the provincial french for a child born with a caul, in allusion to the lucky destiny of such children, is improbable.