cuneiform
/ˈkjuː.nɪ.fɔːm/US/kjuˈni.ə.fɔɹm/
cuneiform adjective: having the form of a wedge; wedge-shaped, especially with a tapered end.
Adjective
cuneiform (not comparable)
- Having the form of a wedge; wedge-shaped, especially with a tapered end.
- About midway across the larger log a cuneiform notch or cut about six inches deep was made.1889, John Napoleon Brinton Hewitt, “New Fire Among the Iroquois”, in American Anthropologist, volume 2, page 319
- The cuneiform tendon is always sharply defined when the hock is flexed by the action of the muscle.1936, W. Frank Calderon, Animal Painting and Anatomy, page 297
- Written in the cuneiform writing system.
- There, too, it was originally the vulgar script in contrast with the official cuneiform script employed for all official documents, compacts, etc.1911, Alvin Sylvester Zerbe, The Antiquity of Hebrew Writing and Literature, page 182
- The text is inscribed on a clay tablet of a very unusual format. The only other known mathematical cuneiform text on a clay tablet of a similar format is also the only previously known Kassite (and therefore post-Old-Babylonian) mathematical cuneiform text.2000, Jöran Friberg, A Remarkable Collection of Babylonian Mathematical Texts, page ix
Noun
cuneiform (plural cuneiforms)
- An ancient Mesopotamian writing system, adapted within several language families, originating as pictograms in Sumer around the 30th century BCE, evolving into more abstract and characteristic wedge shapes formed by a blunt reed stylus on clayen tablets.
- Synonyms:
- wedge-writing
- A wedge-shaped bone, especially a cuneiform bone.
cuneiform meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Telugu
cuneiform in Hindi
- ancient writing system
- अंकन aṅkan, क्यूनिफार्म kyūniphārm, कोलाक्षर kolākṣar, कीलाक्षर kīlākṣar
cuneiform in Tamil
- சட்டுவ வடிவம், ஆப்பு வடிவம், ஆப்புவடிவ
cuneiform in Bengali
- ancient writing system
- কিউনিফর্ম kiuniphormo
cuneiform in Telugu
- ancient writing system
- కీలలిపి kīlalipi, బాణలిపి bāṇalipi, కోణలిపి kōṇalipi
More languagesFewer languages
- cuneiform in Arabic
- مِسْمَارِيَّة mismāriyya
- cuneiform in Persian
- میخی mixi, خط میخی xat-e mixi
- cuneiform in Vietnamese
- chữ hình nêm
Synonyms of cuneiform
Forms of cuneiform
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | cuniform |
| Noun | |
| plural | cuneiforms |
Origin of cuneiform
From French cunéiforme or New Latin cuneifōrmis, from Classical Latin cuneus (“wedge”) + fōrma.
Words formed from cuneiform
Phrases with cuneiform
Questions about cuneiform
- What does cuneiform mean?
- Cuneiform means having the form of a wedge; wedge-shaped, especially with a tapered end.
- What is cuneiform in Hindi?
- Cuneiform in Hindi is अंकन (aṅkan), क्यूनिफार्म (kyūniphārm), कोलाक्षर (kolākṣar). See Cuneiform meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is cuneiform?
- Cuneiform can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce cuneiform?
- Cuneiform is pronounced /ˈkjuː.nɪ.fɔːm/ (UK).
Words near cuneiform in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: cuneiform (page history and authors); cuneiform (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cuneiform.wav.
Cite this entry: “cuneiform.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cuneiform. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.