English

Noun

cuneus ‎(plural cunei)

1. (anatomy) A portion of the occipital lobe of the human brain, involved in visual processing.
2. (architecture) One of a set of wedge-shaped divisions separated by stairways, found in the Ancient Roman theatre and in mediaeval architecture.

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱū ‎(“sting”) (which also gave culex ‎(“mosquito”)), extended from *h₂eḱ- ‎(“sharp”) (compare catus ‎(“sharp”), acutus ‎(“sharp”), cos ‎(“whetstone”), Ancient Greek κῶνος ‎(kônos, “cone”))

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈku.ne.us/, [ˈkʊ.ne.ʊs]

Noun

cuneus m ‎(genitive cuneī); second declension

1. wedge, wedge shape

Inflection

Second declension.

Derived terms

• cuneiformis
• cuneō
• cuneātim

Descendants

See also

• cuniculus
• cunnus
• conus

References

• cuneus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• cuneus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• CUNEUS in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “cuneus”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to draw up troops in a wedge-formation: cuneum facere (Liv. 22. 47)
    
• cuneus in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cuneus in William Smith., editor (1854, 1857) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
• cuneus in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin