Arietiform

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˌɛəɹiˈɛtɪfɔːm/

Definitions

1. Having a form that exhibits similarities to a ram's shape or features
2. Displaying characteristics or contours that suggest the outline or structure of a ram
3. Having a shape or design that is evocative of a ram’s head or body

Etymology: Ram-like shapes turn up in an unexpected range of places, from the tail feathers of a bird-of-paradise to the face of a small desert rodent. The word describing them is a plain scientific-style coinage built from Latin "arietis", the genitive form of "ariēs", meaning "ram", and the English suffix "-form", meaning "having the shape of." Its formation is transparent: it means, quite literally, "ram-shaped." The Latin root goes back to a Proto-Indo-European base for a domestic animal, so the ancient ancestry is deep, but the word itself is a modern construction made from those parts. It was assembled in English to name a specific visual pattern, the curled, ram's-horn-like marking seen in nature and in art, rather than inherited from classical usage. The Century Dictionary, published in 1914, records the word, which places its circulation in English in the early twentieth century. Its use is largely confined to naturalists and writers on natural history and heraldry-style description.