lemniscus

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lēmniscus (“pendent ribbon”), from Ancient Greek λημνῐ́σκος (lēmnískos), from Λῆμνος (Lêmnos, “a Greek island Lemnos”) +‎ -ίσκος (-ískos, “noun-forming diminutive suffix”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛmˈnɪ.skəs/
• Rhymes: -ɪskəs

Noun

lemniscus (plural lemniscuses or lemnisci)

1. (zoology) One of two oval bodies hanging from the interior walls of the body in the Acanthocephala.
2. A woollen fillet attached to the back of crowns, diadems, etc.
3. (anatomy) A ribbon of fibers, especially of cerebral white nerve fibers.

Derived terms

• medial lemniscus

Related terms

• lemniscata

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek λημνῐ́σκος (lēmnískos, “woollen fillet, ribbon”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /leːmˈnis.kus/, [ɫ̪eːmˈnɪs̠kʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /lemˈnis.kus/, [lemˈniskus]

Noun

lēmniscus m (genitive lēmniscī); second declension

1. A pendent ribbon

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	lēmniscus	lēmniscī
Genitive	lēmniscī	lēmniscōrum
Dative	lēmniscō	lēmniscīs
Accusative	lēmniscum	lēmniscōs
Ablative	lēmniscō	lēmniscīs
Vocative	lēmnisce	lēmniscī

Derived terms

• lēmniscātus

Descendants

• Catalan: lemnisc
• Galician: lemnisco
• Italian: lemnisco
• Portuguese: lemnisco
• Spanish: lemnisco

References

• “lemniscus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “lemniscus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• lemniscus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “lemniscus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “lemniscus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin