cuneus
English
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Latin cuneus. Doublet of coign and coin.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editcuneus (plural cunei)
- (neuroanatomy) A portion of the occipital lobe of the human brain, involved in visual processing.
- (entomology) A wedge-shaped section of the forewing of certain heteropteran bugs.
- (architecture) One of a set of wedge-shaped divisions separated by stairways, found in the Ancient Roman theatre and in mediaeval architecture.
Derived terms
editTranslations
edit
|
Latin
editEtymology
editUncertain root, apparently with the suffix -eus. Various problematic comparisons to either Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”) or *ḱúH- (“spike; sting”) (compare Latin culex (“mosquito”), Avestan 𐬯𐬏𐬐𐬁 (sūkā, “needle”), Sanskrit शूक (śūka, “spike, bristle; sting (of an insect)”), शूल (śūla, “spear; stake”) etc.) have been unfruitful; a long vowel (*cūneus) would be expected in the latter case, and the morphology of the -n-eus suffix remains opaque. One possibility is that cuneus is a borrowing from Ancient Greek γώνιος (gṓnios, “corner, angle”) via an Etruscan intermediate which could explain the devoicing, though de Vaan finds this unconvincing.[1] Compare cunnus (“vagina”, derogatory), also of uncertain origin, as well as cutis (“skin”).
Pronunciation
edit- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈku.ne.us/, [ˈkʊneʊs̠]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈku.ne.us/, [ˈkuːneus]
Noun
editcuneus m (genitive cuneī); second declension
- wedge, wedge shape
- (military) troops arrayed in a wedge formation
- (military, figuratively) an army
- (theater) a block of seats
Declension
editSecond-declension noun.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | cuneus | cuneī |
Genitive | cuneī | cuneōrum |
Dative | cuneō | cuneīs |
Accusative | cuneum | cuneōs |
Ablative | cuneō | cuneīs |
Vocative | cunee | cuneī |
Derived terms
editDescendants
edit- Balkan Romance:
- Italo-Romance:
- Padanian:
- Northern Gallo-Romance:
- Southern Gallo-Romance:
- Ibero-Romance:
- ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *cunea
- Borrowings:
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “cuneus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 154
- “cuneus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “cuneus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- cuneus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- cuneus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
- to draw up troops in a wedge-formation: cuneum facere (Liv. 22. 47)
- to draw up troops in a wedge-formation: cuneum facere (Liv. 22. 47)
- “cuneus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “cuneus”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
- “cuneus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English doublets
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- en:Neuroanatomy
- en:Entomology
- en:Architecture
- Latin terms with unknown etymologies
- Latin terms suffixed with -eus
- Latin terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Latin terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Latin terms borrowed from Etruscan
- Latin terms derived from Etruscan
- Latin 3-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin lemmas
- Latin nouns
- Latin second declension nouns
- Latin masculine nouns in the second declension
- Latin masculine nouns
- la:Military
- la:Theater
- Latin words in Meissner and Auden's phrasebook