uncus

American  

[uhng-kuhs] / ˈʌŋ kəs /

noun

Anatomy.

plural

unci

1. any hook-shaped or curved part of a body process, especially the hippocampal gyrus in the temporal lobe of the brain.

---

uncus British  

/ ˈʌŋkəs /

noun

1. zoology anatomy a hooked part or process, as in the human cerebrum

---

Etymology

Origin of uncus

1820–30; < New Latin, Latin: literally, hook

Example Sentences

The genus name uncus means “hook” in Latin, after the fishhooklike squiggles on the rock left by the fossils.

From Science Magazine • Nov. 19, 2024

Scaphium: a ventral process of the 10th abdominal segment in male Lepidoptera below the uncus.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.

Supra-anal hook: in male of most Lepidoptera, a curved hook attached to the plate covering the genital cavity: = uncus.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.

The lower portion, the manubrium, or handle, gives motion to the upper portion, which from its shape is named the uncus, or hook.

From Marvels of Pond-life A Year's Microscopic Recreations by Slack, Henry J.

At I 313-16, Lucretius, discussing the invisible wearing away of substances, says 'stilicidi casus lapidem cauat, uncus aratri / ferreus occulte decrescit uomer in aruis, / strataque iam uolgi pedibus detrita uiarum / saxea conspicimus'.

From The Last Poems of Ovid by Akrigg, Mark Bear