lineament
[lin-ee-uh-muh nt]
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.
RELATED WORDS
boundary, edge, channel, portrait, sketch, figure, likeness, shape, shade, shadow, contour, trick, habit, attribute, quirk, character, feature, peculiarity, oddity, virtue
Nearby words
- linea alba,
- linea nigra,
- lineage,
- lineal,
- lineally,
- linear,
- linear a,
- linear accelerator,
- linear algebra,
- linear atrophy
Origin of lineament
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for lineament
lineament
noun (often plural)
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
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper