bucranium

American  

[byoo-krey-nee-uhm] / byuˈkreɪ ni əm /

Also bucrane

noun

plural

bucrania

1. (in classical architecture) an ornament, especially on a frieze, having the form of the skull of an ox.

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Etymology

Origin of bucranium

1850–55; < Late Latin būcrānium < Greek boukrā́ni ( on ) an ox-head, equivalent to Greek bou- (stem of boûs ) ox + krāníon cranium

Example Sentences

A decoration in white paint over the doorways of certain houses in the south is a relic of the religious custom of placing a bucranium there to avert evil.

From The Treasury of Ancient Egypt Miscellaneous Chapters on Ancient Egyptian History and Archaeology by Weigall, Arthur E. P. B.

But the head of a musician is harder than a bucranium, and the blows which Théophile received did not avail to modify that angel's notion of divine providence.

From Anatole France The Revolt of the Angels by France, Anatole