Dictionary

dogtooth en · NOUN

Etymology

From Middle English dogge tothe, calque of Latin dens caninus (“doglike tooth”). Equivalent to dog + tooth.

Meanings

1. Synonym of cuspid, a pointed tooth between the incisors and premolars.
   • There are other twaine on each side, commonly called Dogge-teeth. 1594, Pierre de la Primaudaye, translated by Thomas Bowes, The French Academie..., volume II, page 105:
   • When he smiled... one of his dogteeth stuck out. 1991, Amy Tan, The Kitchen God's Wife, page 200:
   • Dogges teeth, dentes canini. 1552, Richard Huloet, Abcedarium Anglico Latinum..., s.v:
2. An ornament common in Gothic architecture, consisting of pointed projections resembling teeth.
   • This arch is the side of a niche from the tomb of Can Signorio della Scala, at Verona; and the value, as well as the distant expression of its dogtooth, may be seen by referring to Prout's beautiful drawing of this tomb in his "Sketches in France and Italy." 1851, John Ruskin, “The Edge and Fillet”, in The Stones of Venice, volume I (The Foundations), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, § IV, page 260:
3. Synonym of houndstooth.
4. A dogtooth violet.
5. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of dog tooth, a jagged leading edge of a wing.
   alt of dog tooth

Forms

Deriveds

dogtooth spar · dogtooth grass · dogtooth tuna · dogtooth violet · dogtoothing

Synonyms

cuspid · houndstooth

wikidata: Q19625