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lineaments

 - 3 dictionary results

lin⋅e⋅a⋅ment

  [lin-ee-uh-muhnt]
Use lineaments in a Sentence
–noun
1. Often, lineaments. a feature or detail of a face, body, or figure, considered with respect to its outline or contour: His fine lineaments made him the very image of his father.
2. Usually, lineaments. distinguishing features; distinctive characteristics: the lineaments of sincere repentance.
3. Geology. a linear topographic feature of regional extent that is believed to reflect underlying crustal structure.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME < L līneāmentum a stroke, pl., features, equiv. to līneā(re) to draw a line (deriv. of līnea; see line 1 ) + -mentum -ment

Related forms:
lin⋅e⋅a⋅men⋅tal  [lin-ee-a-men-tl] , adjective
lin⋅e⋅a⋅men⋅ta⋅tion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To lineaments
lin·e·a·ment   (lĭn'ē-ə-mənt)   
n.  

  1. A distinctive shape, contour, or line, especially of the face.

  2. A definitive or characteristic feature. Often used in the plural: "the gross and subtle folds of corruption on the average senatorial face are hardly the lineaments of virtue" (Norman Mailer).


[Middle English liniament, from Latin līneāmentum, from līnea, line; see line1.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

lineament 
1432, "distinctive feature of the body, outline," from M.Fr. lineament, from L. lineamentum "contour, outline," from lineare "to reduce to a straight line," from linea (see line (n.)). Fig. sense of "a characteristic" is attested from 1638.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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