Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A projecting bracket that is used in classical architecture to carry the upper elements of a cornice; a console.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In anatomy, the olecranon; the upper end of the ulna; the elbow. See cut under forearm.
  • noun In architecture, any projection designed to support a cornice or other structural feature, as a console or a corbel.
  • noun Also written ancone.
  • noun The name of a celebrated breed of sheep, originated in Massachusetts in 1791 from a ram having a long body and short, crooked legs, and therefore unable to leap fences. It was also known as the otter breed, and is now extinct.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Anat.) The olecranon, or the elbow.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a breed of sheep with short crooked legs and long back. It originated in Massachusetts in 1791; -- called also the otter breed.
  • noun obsolete The corner or quoin of a wall, cross-beam, or rafter.
  • noun A bracket supporting a cornice; a console.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun obsolete The corner of a wall or rafter.
  • noun A console that appears to support a cornice.
  • noun anatomy The elbow.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin ancōn, from Greek ankōn, elbow.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin ancon, from Greek ἀγκών ‘bend, elbow, cranny’.

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Examples

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  • A dwarf anaconda.

    November 18, 2008