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pulvinar

[puhl-vahy-ner]
noun, plural pul·vi·nar·i·a [puhl-vuh-nair-ee-uh] /ˌpʌl vəˈnɛər i ə/.
  1. (in ancient Rome)
    1. a cushioned couch kept in readiness for any visitation of a god.
    2. a cushioned seat at a circus.
  2. Also called pulvinus. (on an Ionic capital) either of two convex forms having on their ends two of the volutes.
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adjective
  1. pulvinate(def 3).
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Origin of pulvinar

1590–1600; (noun) < Latin pulvīnar cushioned couch, equivalent to pulvīn(us) cushion + -ar, shortening of -āre, neuter of āris -ar1; (adj.) pulvin(us) + -ar1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pulvinar

Historical Examples

  • But I do not approve of his witnessing the Circensian games from the Pulvinar.

    The Lives Of The Twelve Caesars, Complete

    C. Suetonius Tranquillus

  • And upon taking his wife again, after the divorce, he declared by proclamation, "that he had recalled her to his pulvinar."

pulvinar in Medicine

pulvinar

(pŭl-vī′nər)
n.
  1. The posterior extremity of the thalamus, forming a cushionlike prominence over the posterior aspect of the internal capsule.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.