incus

English

Location of the incus

Etymology

From Latin incūs (“anvil”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

incus (plural incudes)

1. (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").

2. (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

a small anvil-shaped bone in the middle ear

• Afrikaans: aambeeld, incus
• Catalan: enclusa (ca) f
• Czech: kovadlinka (cs) f
• Finnish: alasin (fi)
• French: incus (fr) m
• Galician: bigornia (gl) f
• Greek: άκμονας (el) m (ákmonas)
• Icelandic: steðji m
• Japanese: 砧骨 (ja) (きぬたこつ, kinutakotsu)

• Latin: incūs m
• Maori: kurutangi
• Portuguese: bigorna (pt) f
• Romanian: nicovală (ro) f
• Russian: накова́льня (ru) f (nakoválʹnja)
• Serbo-Croatian: nakovanj (sh) m
• Spanish: yunque (es) m
• Turkish: örs (tr)

accessory cloud in the shape of an anvil — see thunderhead

Anagrams

• NICUs, U.S. Inc, usnic

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Afrikaans

From Latin incūs (“anvil”).

Noun

incus (plural incudes)

1. (anatomy) incus

Synonyms

• aambeeld

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French

Noun

incus m (plural incus)

1. (anatomy) incus

Synonyms

• enclume

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Latin

incūs (anvil)

Etymology 1

From incūdō (“I forge, fabricate”), from in + cudere

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈin.kuːs/, [ˈɪŋ.kuːs]

Noun

incūs f (genitive incūdis); third declension

1. anvil

Inflection

Third declension.

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	incūs	incūdēs
genitive	incūdis	incūdum
dative	incūdī	incūdibus
accusative	incūdem	incūdēs
ablative	incūde	incūdibus
vocative	incūs	incūdēs

Descendants

• Asturian: xunque
• Basque: ingude
• Catalan: enclusa
• Dalmatian: ancusene
• English: incus
• French: enclume
• Friulian: incuin
• Italian: incudine

• Occitan: enclutge
• Portuguese: incude
• Romansh: inchüna, anchüna
• Sardinian: incódina, incódine, incúdina, alcútina
• Sicilian: ncùnia
• Spanish: yunque
• Venetian: ancùxene
• Walloon: eglome

Etymology 2

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

Adjective

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

1. Incan

Inflection

First/second declension.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
nominative	incus	inca	incum		incī	incae	inca
genitive	incī	incae	incī		incōrum	incārum	incōrum
dative	incō		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
• du Cange, Charles (1883), “incus”, in G. A. Louis Henschel, Pierre Carpentier, Léopold Favre, editors, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (in Latin), Niort: L. Favre
• “incus” in Félix Gaffiot’s Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette (1934)
• 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