CUNEIFORM

cuneiform

(adjective) of or relating to the tarsal bones (or other wedge-shaped bones)

cuneal, wedge-shaped, cuneiform

(adjective) shaped like a wedge

cuneiform

(noun) an ancient wedge-shaped script used in Mesopotamia and Persia

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

cuneiform (not comparable)

Having the form of a wedge; wedge-shaped, especially with a tapered end.

Written in the cuneiform writing system.

Synonyms

• cuneiform bone

• precuneiform

• wedge-shaped

• wedgelike

• wedgy

Noun

cuneiform (plural cuneiforms)

An ancient Mesopotamian writing system, adapted within several language families, originating as pictograms in Sumer around the 30th century BC, evolving into more abstract and characteristic wedge shapes formed by a blunt reed stylus on clay tablets.

(anatomy) A wedge-shaped bone, especially a cuneiform bone.

Synonyms

• wedge-writing

Source: Wiktionary

Cu*ne"i*form (k-n"-frm), Cu"ni*form (k"n-frm), a. Etym: [L. cuneus a wedge + -form: cf. F. cunei-forme. See Coin.]

1. Wedge-shaped; as, a cuneiform bone; -- especially applied to the wedge-shaped or arrowheaded characters of ancient Persian and Assyrian inscriptions. See Arrowheaded.

2. Pertaining to, or versed in, the ancient wedge-shaped characters, or the inscriptions in them. "A cuneiform scholar." Rawlinson.

Cu*ne"i*form, Cu"ni*form, n.

1. The wedge-shaped characters used in ancient Persian and Assyrian inscriptions. I. Taylor (The Alphabet).

2. (Anat.) (a) One of the three tarsal bones supporting the first, second third metatarsals. They are usually designated as external, middle, and internal, or ectocuniform, mesocuniform, and entocuniform, respectively. (b) One of the carpal bones usually articulating wich the ulna; -- called also pyramidal and ulnare.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition