periaktoi means A device for changing scenery in a theatre. A row of adjacent, three-sided columns form a backdrop to the stage and are turned in unison to show a different face. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 90 out of 100.
Why “periaktoi” is a great word
PERIAKTOI — [Noun] A scenic device of the ancient theatre: a series of adjacent, triangular prisms that, when rotated in unison, transform the stage backdrop from one painted vista to another. From Ancient Greek περίακτοι (períaktoi), masculine plural of περίακτος (períaktos, "revolving, pivoting"), from περιάγω (periágō, "I turn round"). Unlike the static architectural scaena or the singular sliding flat, the periaktos is a kinetic machine of potential. It is the collective groan of the turning frame, the sudden revelation of a forest where a palace stood, and the tangible click of a new reality sliding into place—theatre’s early argument that the worlds we inhabit are only ever one turn away from becoming another.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek περίακτοι (períaktoi), masculine plural of περίακτος (períaktos, “revolving, pivoting”), from περιάγω (periágō, “I turn round”).
noun
- A device for changing scenery in a theatre. A row of adjacent, three-sided columns form a backdrop to the stage and are turned in unison to show a different face.