lineament
Americannoun
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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.
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Usually lineaments. distinguishing features; distinctive characteristics.
the lineaments of sincere repentance.
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Geology. a linear topographic feature of regional extent that is believed to reflect underlying crustal structure.
noun
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a facial outline or feature
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a distinctive characteristic or feature
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geology any long natural feature on the surface of the earth, such as a fault, esp as revealed by aerial photography
Other Word Forms
- lineamental adjective
- lineamentation noun
Etymology
Origin of lineament
First recorded in 1450–1500; late Middle English, from Latin līneāmentum “a stroke, line (made with a pen, chalk, etc.)”; plural, “features, drawings,” equivalent to līneā(re) “to reduce to a straight line, draw or trace lines,” (derivative of līnea; line 1 ) + -mentum -ment
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Another thing you might try is tiger balm lineament or some other stimulating ointment.
From Slate • Mar. 31, 2020
What mattered was that they should bear Some lineament or character, Some affluence, if only half-perceived, In the poverty of their words, Of the planet of which they were a part.
From Time Magazine Archive
I had nowhere seen such faces as theirs: and yet, as I gazed on them, I seemed intimate with every lineament.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
He rose and came towards me, and I saw his face all kindled, and his full falcon-eye flashing, and tenderness and passion in every lineament.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
He told us insanity incurable was stamped upon every lineament of his countenance, and as for the filthy condition in which he was found that signified nothing.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
