cuneiformadj.n.
/kjuːˈniːɪfɔːm//ˈkjuːniːɪfɔːm/ A. adj.
1. Having the form of a wedge, wedge-shaped. cuneiform bone (in Anatomy): (a) one of the bones of the carpus; (b) each of three bones of the second row of the tarsus, called internal, middle, and external; (c) a name for the sphenoid bone of the skull. cuneiform cartilages or tubercles: the cartilages of Wrisberg.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > fact or condition of tapering > [adjective] > wedge-shaped
wedged1552
cuneal1578
wedge-like1594
coin-formed1600
cuneiform1677
feather-edged1703
cuneated1727
wedge-shaped1790
wedgy1799
cuneate1810
wedge-form1822
wedge-formed1822
1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 268 The stones are all cuneoform.
1681 Table of Hard Words in S. Pordage tr. T. Willis Remaining Med. Wks. Cuneform, wedglike or in form of a wedg: a bone so shap'd.
1741 A. Monro Anat. Human Bones (ed. 3) 101 The external Surface is mostly convex, except at the cuneiform Apophyse.
1826 T. Bewick Hist. Brit. Birds (ed. 6) I. 247 The tail is cuniform and rather long.
1840 G. V. Ellis Demonstr. Anat. 28 The cuneiform process of the sphenoid bone.
1850 J. Leitch tr. K. O. Müller Ancient Art (new ed.) §168 The art of arching by means of cuneiform stones.
2.
a. spec. Applied to the characters of the ancient inscriptions of Persia, Assyria, etc., composed of wedge-shaped or arrow-headed elements; and hence to the inscriptions or records themselves.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > system of writing > [adjective] > of specific languages > cuneiform
cuneiform1818
cuneatic1851
1818 W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. 85 486 The cuneiform character is so simple in its component parts, that it..consists only of two elements, the wedge and the rectangle.
1829 J. Kenrick in Philos. Mag. May 327 Beyond the limits of Persia more than one monument has been found with cuneiform inscriptions.
1869 F. W. Newman Misc. 56 A cuneoform text from Assyria.
1876 S. Birch Rede Lect. Egypt 39 The recently discovered Assyrian annals in the cuneiform character.
b. transferred. Relating to, or conversant with, the cuneiform writing and inscriptions.
ΚΠ
1862 G. Rawlinson Five Great Monarchies I. v. 330 Cuneiform scholars.
1874 E. O. M. Deutsch Lit. Remains 309 The vast importance of cuneiform studies.
B. n.
1. Anatomy. = cuneiform bone at sense A. 1.
ΚΠ
1854 R. Owen in Circle of Sci. (c1865) II. 78/2 The external cuneiform is the largest of the second series of tarsals.
2. The cuneiform character, cuneiform writing.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > system of writing > [noun] > of specific languages > cuneiform
cuneiform1862
1862 Sat. Rev. 8 Feb. 162 He [Sir G. C. Lewis] doubts the whole Egyptian chronology,..thinks the Babylonian annals an imposition, and does not even condescend to mention cuneiform and its decipherers.
1874 E. O. M. Deutsch Lit. Remains 309 There are three principal kinds of cuneiform.
Derivatives
cuneiformist n. a student of cuneiform writing.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > study or science of written symbols > [noun] > one who studies cuneiform
cuneiformist1884
1884 W. M. Ramsay in Athenæum 27 Dec. 865/2 As to the Hittites in Northern Syria, of course we..must accept the verdict of cuneiformists and Egyptologists.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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adj.n.1677