The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #43460   Message #634874
Posted By: annamill
24-Jan-02 - 04:16 PM
Thread Name: BS: Atavistic Cuneiform
Subject: RE: BS: Atavistic Cuneiform
Found these in Encarta.

Seems you have a throwback ankle bone ;-)

atavistic at·a·vis·tic [àtt vístik ] adjective 1. relating to genetic reappearance: relating to or displaying the recurrence of a genetic feature that has been absent for several generations 2. uncivilized and instinctive: relating to or displaying the kind of behavior that seems to be a product of impulses long since suppressed by society's rules at·a·vis·ti·cal·ly adverb

cuneiform

cu·ne·i·form [kyni fàwrm , kyoo n fàwrm ] adjective

1. wedge-shaped: with the narrowly triangular shape of a wedge

2. used in ancient writing system: relating or belonging to any of several writing systems of the ancient Near East, for example, Sumerian or Linear B, in which wedge-shaped impressions were made in soft clay

3. used for cuneiform writing: used to describe the clay tablets on which cuneiform script was written

4. ANATOMY of ankle: used to describe any of three wedge-shaped bones of the ankle

noun (plural cu·ne·i·forms)

1. cuneiform script: writing that uses small wedge-shaped characters

2. ANATOMY wedge-shaped ankle bone: any of the three cuneiform bones of the ankle (informal)

[Late 17th century. From French cunéiforme or modern Latin cuneiformis , from Latin cuneus "wedge."]