cuneiform
pronunciation
How to pronounce cuneiform in British English:
UK [ˈkju:nɪfɔ:m]
How to pronounce cuneiform in American English:
US [ˈkjunɪfɔrm]
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- Noun:
- an ancient wedge-shaped script used in Mesopotamia and Persia
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- Adjective:
- shaped like a wedge
- of or relating to the tarsal bones (or other wedge-shaped bones)
Word Origin
- cuneiform (adj.)
- 1670s, "wedge shaped," from French cunéiforme (16c.), from Latin cuneus "a wedge, wedge-shaped thing," which is of unknown origin, + French -forme (see form (n.)). Applied to characters in ancient Middle Eastern inscriptions made with wedge-shaped writing tools; first used in this sense by German physician and traveler Engelbert Kämpfer (1681-1716); in English from 1818. As a noun from 1862.