lineament

[lin-ee-uh-muh nt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lineament ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Often lineaments. a feature or detail of a face, body, or figure, considered with respect to its outline or contour: His fine lineaments made him the very image of his father.

Usually lineaments. distinguishing features; distinctive characteristics: the lineaments of sincere repentance.

Geology. a linear topographic feature of regional extent that is believed to reflect underlying crustal structure.

Origin of lineament

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin līneāmentum a stroke, plural, features, equivalent to līneā(re) to draw a line (derivative of līnea; see line¹) + -mentum -ment

Related formslin·e·a·men·tal

[lin-ee-a-men-tl] /ˌlɪn i æˈmɛn tl/, adjectivelin·e·a·men·ta·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for lineament

boundary, edge, channel, portrait, sketch, figure, likeness, shape, shade, shadow, contour, trick, habit, attribute, quirk, character, feature, peculiarity, oddity, virtue

Examples from the Web for lineament

Historical Examples of lineament

The light of the fire was upon it, and its every lineament was revealed distinctly.
Barnaby Rudge
Charles Dickens
I had ample time to scan his features and canvass their every lineament.
Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon, Volume 1 (of 2)
Charles Lever
"I am stopping it," Dunark stated quietly, grim purpose in every lineament.
Skylark Three
Edward Elmer Smith
I should not have recognized him had we met in the street, so altered was every lineament.
The Boy Scouts Book of Stories
Various
Compared with the original, at last—in every lineament how like it was!
A Budget of Christmas Tales by Charles Dickens and Others
Various

British Dictionary definitions for lineament

lineament

noun (often plural)

a facial outline or feature

a distinctive characteristic or feature

geology any long natural feature on the surface of the earth, such as a fault, esp as revealed by aerial photography

Derived Formslineamental (ˌlɪnɪəˈmɛntəl), adjective

Word Origin for lineament

C15: from Latin: line, from līneāre to draw a line

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 lineament

early 15c., "distinctive feature of the body, outline," from Middle French lineament, from Latin lineamentum "contour, outline," literally "a line, stroke, mark," from lineare "to reduce to a straight line," from linea (see line (n.)). Figurative sense of "a characteristic" is attested from 1630s.