noun

cŭnĕus

gen. cŭnei · gender masculine · decl. 2nd

cf. Sanscr. çā, çān, to sharpen; Lat. cos, cautes

a wedge

a wedge.

the plugs; wedges by which the ship's hull was made tight •

Prop., Cato, R. R. 10, 3; 11, 4; Att. ap. Cic. Tusc. 2, 10, 23; Verg. G. 1, 144; Hor. C. 1, 35, 18: jamque labant cunei, i. e. the plugs or wedges by which the ship's hull was made tight, Ov. M. 11, 514: Britannia in cuneum tenuatur, is shaped like a wedge, Tac. Agr. 10; cf. cuneo, II.—*

figuratively •

Trop.: hoc cuneo veritatis omnis extruditur haeresis, Tert. adv. Marc. 1, 21 fin.—

by metonymy

Troops drawn up for battle in the form of a wedge •

Troops drawn up for battle in the form of a wedge, Caes. B. G. 6, 39; Liv. 2, 50, 9; 10, 29, 7 al.; Tac. A. 1, 51; id. H. 2, 42; id. G. 6 sq.; Quint. 2, 13, 4; Verg. A. 12, 269; 12, 575 al.; cf. Veg. Mil. 1, 26; 3, 19; of the Macedonian phalanx: cohortes invicem sub signis, quae cuneum Macedonicum (phalangem ipsi vocant) si possent, vi perrumperent, emittebat, Liv. 32, 17, 11; and Dict. of Antiq.—So of a mob: turbandae rei causā publicani cuneo inruperunt, Liv. 25, 3, 18; of a flight of geese, Plin. 10, 23, 32, § 63.—

The wedge-form division of the rows of seats in a theatre •

The wedge-form division of the rows of seats in a theatre, Vitr. 5, 6: ad tumulum cuneosque theatri perferre, etc., Verg. A. 5, 664; Suet. Aug. 44; Juv. 6, 61; cf. Dict. of Antiq.—Hence, *

the spectators by extension •

Transf., the spectators: ut vero cuneis notuit res omnibus, all the boxes, Phaedr. 5, 8, 35.—

the wedge-like space between the different painted; inlaid panels in walls

In architecture, the wedge-like space between the different painted or inlaid panels in walls, Vitr. 7, 4, 4; 7, 5, 1.

Perseus ID: n11921 Key: cuneus1