contorniate
English
editEtymology
editFrom Italian contorniato, present participle of contorniare (“to make a circuit or outline”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editcontorniate (plural contorniates)
- A bronze medal or medallion with a deep furrow on the contour or edge, supposed to have been struck in the days of Constantine and his successors.
- 1864, Reginald Stuart Poole, “The Coins of the Ptolemies”, in The numismatic chronicle, volume IV:
- Mr. Evans exhibited a fine contorniate, bearing the head of Nero
Adjective
editcontorniate (not comparable)
- Having a furrow of this kind.
- 1888, Archaeologia Cambrensis, page 141:
- […] by its close analogy with a more elaborate composition on a contorniate medal of the same Emperor, which was certainly commemorative of that event.
Italian
editVerb
editcontorniate