Gnomon:
A gnomon (/ˈnoʊmɒn,ˈnoʊmən/, from Greek γνώμων, gnōmōn, literally: “one that knows or examines”) is the part of a sundial that casts a shadow. The term is used for a variety of purposes in mathematics and other fields. [Wikipedia]
Noted in “Everything you wanted to know about Joe Biden’s shadow people but were afraid to ask,” Alexandra Petri, WaPo:
I’m glad you asked. The Shadow People have been present ever since someone glancing at the Washington Monument realized that it was the gnomon of an ominous sundial and stood in its shadow as the sun set; within that shadow were bits of deeper shadow. That man was Henry Clay; it was because the Thing from the Shadow followed him patiently out of it that the presidency always eluded him. It was long thought that the Shadow People could not cross the Mississippi River but that turned out to be what they wanted us to believe. And if you stare into the Masonic eye on the dollar too long, something small and gray will flit out of it into your eye and, from that moment onward, you will not know rest.
Great rant!
