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cuneiform

[kyoo-nee-uh-fawrm, kyoo-nee-uh-]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cuneiform ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

having the form of a wedge; wedge-shaped.
composed of slim triangular or wedge-shaped elements, as the characters used in writing by the ancient Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and others.
written in cuneiform characters: cuneiform inscription.
Anatomy. noting or pertaining to any of various wedge-shaped bones, as of the tarsus.

noun

cuneiform characters or writing.
a cuneiform bone.

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RELATED WORDS

print, handwriting, script, calligraphy, chirography, hand, scrawl, scribble, autograph, shorthand, hieroglyphics, longhand, ideography, runes, symbology
Also cuniform.

Origin of cuneiform

1670–80; < Latin cune(us) a wedge + -i- + -form
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cuneiform

Historical Examples of cuneiform

British Dictionary definitions for cuneiform

cuneiform

adjective

Also: cuneal wedge-shaped
of, relating to, or denoting the wedge-shaped characters employed in the writing of several ancient languages of Mesopotamia and Persia, esp Sumerian, Babylonian, etc
of or relating to a tablet in which this script is employed
of or relating to any of the three tarsal bones

noun

cuneiform characters or writing
any one of the three tarsal bones

Word Origin for cuneiform

C17: probably from Old French cunéiforme, from Latin cuneus wedge
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
Word Origin and History for cuneiform
adj.

1670s, "wedge shaped," from French cunéiforme (16c.), from Latin cuneus "a wedge, wedge-shaped thing," of unknown origin, + French -forme (see form (n.)). Applied to characters in ancient Middle Eastern inscriptions made with wedge-shaped writing tools; first used in this sense by German physician and traveller Engelbert Kämpfer (1681-1716); in English from 1818. As a noun from 1862.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for cuneiform

cuneiform

[kyōō′nē-ə-fôrm′, kyōō-nē′-]

adj.

Wedge-shaped.
Of, relating to, or being a wedge-shaped bone or cartilage.

n.

A wedge-shaped bone, especially one of three such bones of the foot.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.