wedge-shaped: cuneate leaves are attached at the narrow end
Derived forms
cuneately (ˈcuneately)
adverb
Word origin
C19: from Latin cuneāre to make wedge-shaped, from cuneus a wedge
cuneatic in American English
(ˌkjuːniˈætɪk)
adjective
cuneiform; cuneate
Word origin
[1850–55; cuneate + -ic]This word is first recorded in the period 1850–55. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: clear-cut, cloakroom, ethos, heavyweight, proletariat-ic is a suffix forming adjectives from other parts of speech, occurring originally inGreek and Latin loanwords (metallic; poetic; archaic; public) and, on this model, used as an adjective-forming suffix with the particular senses“having some characteristics of” (opposed to the simple attributive use of the basenoun) (balletic; sophomoric); “in the style of” (Byronic; Miltonic); “pertaining to a family of peoples or languages” (Finnic; Semitic; Turkic)