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unciform

[uhn-suh-fawrm]
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adjective
  1. hook-shaped.

Origin of unciform

1725–35; < New Latin unciformis, equivalent to Latin unc(us) a hook, barb (cognate with Greek ónkos) + -i- -i- + -formis -form
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for unciform

Historical Examples

  • The final bone of that series, the unciform, seems to represent two bones fused.

    The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia

    Frank Evers Beddard

  • In the carpus the os magnum articulates freely with the scaphoid, and is separated from the cuneiform by the lunar and unciform.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton

    Sidney H. Reynolds

British Dictionary definitions for unciform

unciform

adjective
  1. anatomy zoology having the shape of a hook
noun
  1. Also called: hamate bone anatomy any hook-shaped structure or part, esp a small bone of the wrist (unciform bone)

Word Origin

C18: from New Latin unciformis, from Latin uncus a hook
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
unciform in Medicine

unciform

(ŭn′sə-fôrm′)
adj.
  1. Shaped like a hook.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.