Link Centre Dictionary

lancinate

lan·ci·nate

uncommon

adjective

1.

as physically painful as if caused by a sharp instrument

  • “a cutting wind”
  • “keen winds”
  • “knifelike cold”
  • “piercing knifelike pains”
  • “piercing cold”
  • “piercing criticism”
  • “a stabbing pain”
  • “lancinating pain”

Origin

First attested in 1603; borrowed from Latin lancinātus, perfect passive participle of lancinō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Cognate with French lanciner.

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.