incus

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin incūs (“anvil”).

Pronunciation

(UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈɪŋ.kəs/
Rhymes: -ɪŋkəs

Noun

incus (plural incudes)

(anatomy) A small anvil-shaped bone in the middle ear.
- 2010, Elaine N. Marieb, Katja Hoehn, Human Anatomy & Physiology, 8th edition, page 576:
  The tympanic cavity is spanned by the three smallest bones in the body: the auditory ossicles […] These bones, named for their shape, are the malleus (malʹe-us; "hammer"); the incus (ingʹkus; "anvil"); and the stapes (staʹpēz; "stirrup").
(meteorology) an accessory cloud, in the shape of an anvil which forms by spreading at the top of a cumulonimbus.

Synonyms

(bone in the middle ear): anvil
(cloud): anvil, thunderhead

Related terms

incudal

Translations

anvil — see anvil

accessory cloud in the shape of an anvil — see thunderhead

Anagrams

NICUs, usnic, U.S. Inc, Cusin, cu ins

Afrikaans

Alternative forms

inkus

Etymology

From Latin incūs (“anvil”).

Pronunciation

Audio: (file)
Hyphenation: in‧cus

Noun

incus (plural incudes)

(anatomy) incus
Synonym: aambeeld

French

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.kys/
Audio: (file)

Noun

incus m (plural incus)

(anatomy) incus
Synonym: enclume

Latin

Etymology 1

From incūdō (“forge, fabricate”) +‎ -s, from in- + cūdō.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɪŋ.kuːs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈiŋ.kus]

Noun

incūs f (genitive incūdis); third declension

anvil

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	incūs	incūdēs
genitive	incūdis	incūdum
dative	incūdī	incūdibus
accusative	incūdem	incūdēs
ablative	incūde	incūdibus
vocative	incūs	incūdēs

Descendants

Dalmatian: ancusene
Sardinian: incódina, incódine, incúdina, alcútina
Venetan: ancùxene
Italo-Romance:
- Italian: incudine
- Sicilian: ncùnija
Rhaeto-Romance:
- Friulian: incuin
- Ladin: ancúgn
- Romansch: inchüna, anchüna
Occitano-Romance:
- Catalan: enclusa
- Occitan: enclutge
Oïl:
- Old French: anclume
  - French: enclume
- Walloon: eglome
Ibero-Romance:
- Asturian: xunca, xuncla, yuncla
- Galician: engra
- Old Spanish: yunque, incue, inque
  - Spanish: yunque, ayunque
Borrowings:
- → Afrikaans: incus, inkus (learned)
- → Basque: ingude
- → English: incus (learned)
- → Maltese: inkwina
- → Portuguese: incude (learned)

Etymology 2

New Latin; from Spanish, from Quechua inka (“emperor, male of royal blood”).

Adjective

incus (feminine inca, neuter incum); first/second-declension adjective

Incan

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular			plural
nominative	incus	inca	incum	incī	incae	inca
genitive	incī	incae	incī	incōrum	incārum	incōrum
dative	incō	incae	incō	incīs
accusative	incum	incam	incum	incōs	incās	inca
ablative	incō	incā	incō	incīs
vocative	ince	inca	incum	incī	incae	inca

Related terms

Inca

References

“incus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“incus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
"incus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
incus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
“incus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
“incus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin