lozenge
/ˈlɒzɪn(d)ʒ
/noun
1A rhombus or diamond shape: [as modifier]: lozenge patterns...
- The windows with the lozenge pattern of leading are all found in pictures thought to have been painted in the late 1650s.
- At the left of the screen was a lozenge shape circled in red.
- The English method for dealing with hot boiled ham is to glaze it with brown sugar and mustard or fruit juice, and decorate by scoring the fat in a lozenge pattern and studding it with whole cloves.
Synonyms
rhombus, diamond shape, diamond
1.1A small medicinal tablet, originally in the shape of a lozenge, taken for sore throats and dissolved in the mouth: throat lozenges...
- But don't give hard candy, cough drops or throat lozenges to children under 4.
- Our medicine cabinets are stocked with throat lozenges, painkillers and antiseptic creams designed to restore us to immediate health after the slightest scratch.
- For a sore throat, try lozenges obtained from your chemist, who is pleased to offer advice.
Synonyms
pastille, tablet, pill, capsule, pilule, drop;
cough sweet, cough drop, gum, gumdrop, jujube;
Medicine troche, bolus
rare trochiscus
1.2 Heraldry A charge in the shape of a solid diamond, in particular one on which the arms of an unmarried or widowed woman are displayed.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French losenge, probably derived from the base of Spanish losa, Portuguese lousa 'slab', late Latin lausiae (lapides) 'stone slabs'.
Lozenge, which primarily conveys a diamond shape, is from Old French losenge, probably derived from Spanish losa, or Portuguese lousa ‘slab’, and late Latin lausiae (lapides) meaning ‘(stone) slabs’. The word's use to mean ‘tablet’ arose in the early 16th century from their original diamond shape. Compare tablet at table