incus

English

Location of the incus

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin incūs (“anvil”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈɪŋ.kəs/
• Rhymes: -ɪŋkəs

Noun

incus (plural incudes)

1. (anatomy) A small anvil-shaped bone in the middle ear.
   • 2010, Elaine N. Marieb & Katja Hoehn, Human Anatomy & Physiology, 8th edition, page 576

     The tympanic cavity is spanned by the three smallest bones in the body: the auditory ossicles […] These bones, named for their shape, are the malleus (malʹe-us; "hammer"); the incus (ingʹkus; "anvil"); and the stapes (staʹpēz; "stirrup").

2. (meteorology) an accessory cloud, in the shape of an anvil which forms by spreading at the top of a cumulonimbus.

Synonyms

• (bone in the middle ear): anvil
• (cloud): anvil, thunderhead

Related terms

• incudal

Translations

anvil — see anvil

accessory cloud in the shape of an anvil — see thunderhead

Anagrams

• NICUs, U.S. Inc, usnic

Afrikaans

Alternative forms

• inkus

Etymology

From Latin incūs (“anvil”).

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧cus

Noun

incus (plural incudes)

1. (anatomy) incus

   Synonym: aambeeld

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.kys/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

incus m (plural incus)

1. (anatomy) incus

   Synonym: enclume

Latin

incūs (anvil)

Etymology 1

From incūdō (“forge, fabricate”), from in- + cūdō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈin.kuːs/, [ˈɪŋkuːs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈin.kus/, [ˈiŋkus]

Noun

incūs f (genitive incūdis); third declension

1. anvil

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	incūs	incūdēs
Genitive	incūdis	incūdum
Dative	incūdī	incūdibus
Accusative	incūdem	incūdēs
Ablative	incūde	incūdibus
Vocative	incūs	incūdēs

Descendants

• Afrikaans: incus, inkus
• Asturian: xunque
• Basque: ingude
• Catalan: enclusa
• Dalmatian: ancusene
• English: incus
• French: enclume
• Friulian: incuin
• Galician: engra
• Italian: incudine
• Maltese: inkwina
• Ladin: ancúgn
• Occitan: enclutge
• Portuguese: incude
• Romansch: inchüna, anchüna
• Sardinian: incódina, incódine, incúdina, alcútina
• Sicilian: ncùnia
• Spanish: yunque
• Venetian: ancùxene
• Walloon: eglome

Etymology 2

New Latin; from Spanish, from Quechua inka (“emperor, male of royal blood”).

Adjective

incus (feminine inca, neuter incum); first/second-declension adjective

1. Incan

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	incus	inca	incum		incī	incae	inca
Genitive	incī	incae	incī		incōrum	incārum	incōrum
Dative	incō		incō		incīs
Accusative	incum	incam	incum		incōs	incās	inca
Ablative	incō	incā	incō		incīs
Vocative	ince	inca	incum		incī	incae	inca

Related terms

• Inca

References

• “incus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “incus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• incus 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)
• incus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• “incus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “incus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin