cuneiform
UK /ˈkjuː.nɪ.fɔːm/ · US /kjuˈni.ə.fɔɹm/ adjective, noun
Forms cuneiforms cuniform
- adjective Having the form of a wedge; wedge-shaped, especially with a tapered end.
- adjective Written in the cuneiform writing system.
- noun An ancient Mesopotamian writing system, adapted within several language families, originating as pictograms in Sumer around the 30th century BCE, evolving into more abstract and characteristic wedge shapes formed by a blunt reed stylus on clayen tablets.
- noun (anatomy) A wedge-shaped bone, especially a cuneiform bone.
Synonyms
cuneal cuneiform bone wedgelike wedge-shaped wedgy wedge-writing
Etymology
From French cunéiforme or New Latin cuneifōrmis, from Classical Latin cuneus (“wedge”) + fōrma.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Wedge-shaped; as, a cuneiform bone; --especially applied to the wedge-shaped or arrowheaded characters of ancient Persian and Assyrian inscriptions. See Arrowheaded.
- adjective Pertaining to, or versed in, the ancient wedge-shaped characters, or the inscriptions in them. "A cuneiform scholar." Rawlinson.
- noun The wedge-shaped characters used in ancient Persian and Assyrian inscriptions. I. Taylor (The Alphabet).
- noun (a) One of the three tarsal bones supporting the first, second third metatarsals. They are usually designated as external, middle, and internal, or ectocuniform, mesocuniform, and entocuniform, respectively.
Etymology [L. cuneus a wedge + -form: cf. F. cunei-forme. See Coin.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cuneiform”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details