decant: [17] The word decant depends on a metaphorical connection perceived in the ancient world between the ‘corner of someone’s eye’ (Greek kānthos) and the ‘lip of a jug’. On the basis of this, Latin acquired the word canthus ‘lip of a jug’. From this was formed in medieval Latin the verb dēcanthāre ‘pour out’, a word originally used by alchemists to denote the careful pouring off of a liquid from its sediment. English probably acquired the verb direct from Latin.
