In the Soliloquy lexicon
lineaments
The distinctive features or characteristics of a person's face, or of something's general form or nature.
Used in a sentence
Her lineaments were softened by the warm evening light.
Where it comes from
From Latin lineamentum ‘a line, feature’, from linea ‘linen thread, line’, ultimately from linum ‘flax’.
Its journey
Lineaments began in Latin as lineamentum, a ‘line’ or ‘outline’, formed from linea, a linen thread and hence a drawn line. It reached English in the late fifteenth century, probably through learned Latin (with French influence possible), and its sense widened from the lines that shape a figure to the recognisable features of a face—or the defining character of anything.
Nearby words
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