cyma
Syllables: cy·ma/ˈsaɪ.mə/
cyma noun: the wavelike, curved shape of a cymatium, consisting of a concave and a convex line; (loosely) the cymatium itself.
Noun
cyma (plural cymas or cymae or cymæ or cymata)
- The wavelike, curved shape of a cymatium, consisting of a concave and a convex line; (loosely) the cymatium itself.
- […] while the double-cyma or classical curve of his mouth was not without a looseness in its close.1886 May – 1887 April, Thomas Hardy, The Woodlanders […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 1887, →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- ogee
- A cyme (opening bud).
Synonyms of cyma
Forms of cyma
| plural | cymas |
|---|---|
| plural | cymae |
| plural | cymæ |
| plural | cymata |
| alternative form | sima |
| alternative form | syma |
| alternative form | cima |
| alternative form | scima |
Origin of cyma
From New Latin cȳma (“young sprout or shoot of cabbage”) (whence the botanic usage of cyme), from Ancient Greek κῦμα (kûma, “swell, wave”, “cyma”, “sprout of a plant”), from κύω (kúō, “to conceive, to become pregnant”). For more information, click to expand this box. Most English coinages on this root are formed on its short stem, κῡμ- (kūm-). The fact that the Ancient Greek etymon only inflects as a third-declension neuter noun has led some writers to prescribe forms that preserve the root’s long stem, κῡματ- (kūmat-), for philological reasons (see, for example, the 1903 and 1908 citations of cymatoscope), but such forms are rare. Latinate phrases that include cyma, namely cyma inversa, cyma recta, and cyma reversa, show that, when employed as a Latin word, cȳma is treated as a first-declension feminine noun rather than as third-declension neuter consonant-stem noun. There are several Classical precedents, both from Latin and from Ancient Greek, for formations on the short stem (κῡμ- (kūm-)) of this root, although formations on the long stem (κῡματ- (kūmat-)) are more common in Ancient Greek; consequently, whereas formations on the long stem may be preferable, especially when...
Words formed from cyma
Phrases with cyma
Words that rhyme with cyma
Questions about cyma
- What does cyma mean?
- Cyma means the wavelike, curved shape of a cymatium, consisting of a concave and a convex line; (loosely) the cymatium itself.
- What part of speech is cyma?
- Cyma is a noun.
- How do you pronounce cyma?
- Cyma is pronounced /ˈsaɪ.mə/.
- What is the plural of cyma?
- The plural of cyma is cymas.
Words near cyma in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: cyma (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-cyma.wav.
Cite this entry: “cyma.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cyma. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.