uncus

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enk-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ónkos

Proto-Italic *onkos

Latin uncusbor.

English uncus

Borrowed from Latin uncus (“hook”).

Noun

uncus (plural unci)

1. (zoology) A hook or claw.
2. (anatomy, by extension) Any body part which is long, thin, and curved.
   1. (neuroanatomy) Specifically, the hooked end of the parahippocampal gyrus of the temporal lobe.

      Synonyms: uncinate gyrus, uncus gyri parahippocampalis

Derived terms

• sliding uncus syndrome

Related terms

• uncous

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈʊŋ.kʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈuŋ.kus]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *onkos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ónkos (“hook”). Cognates include Ancient Greek ὄγκος (ónkos) and Sanskrit अङ्क (aṅká).

Noun

uncus m (genitive uncī); second declension

1. hook, barb

   Synonym: uncīnus

2. a hook used to drag criminals by the neck
3. (medicine) a surgical instrument
4. (New Latin, typography) a bracket

   uncus quadrātus ― a square bracket

   uncus rotundus ― a parenthesis

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	uncus	uncī
genitive	uncī	uncōrum
dative	uncō	uncīs
accusative	uncum	uncōs
ablative	uncō	uncīs
vocative	unce	uncī

Derived terms

• uncātiō
• uncātus
• uncifer (New Latin)
• uncīnus

Descendants

• → English: uncus
• ⇒ Translingual: Uncaria
• →? Tunisian Arabic: عَنكُوش (ʕænkūš)

Etymology 2

From uncus + -us.

Adjective

uncus (feminine unca, neuter uncum); first/second-declension adjective

1. hooked, curved, barbed
2. crooked, bent

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	uncus	unca	uncum		uncī	uncae	unca
genitive	uncī	uncae	uncī		uncōrum	uncārum	uncōrum
dative	uncō	uncae	uncō		uncīs
accusative	uncum	uncam	uncum		uncōs	uncās	unca
ablative	uncō	uncā	uncō		uncīs
vocative	unce	unca	uncum		uncī	uncae	unca

Derived terms

• aduncus
• obuncus

Descendants

• → Italian: unco

Further reading

• “uncus (noun)”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “uncus (noun)”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “uncus (adjective)”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “uncus (adjective)”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “uncus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.