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''incunabulum'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260207202820-00-⌔
incunabulum - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
Noun
incunabulum (plural incunabula)
- (printing) A book, single sheet, or image that was printed before the year 1501 in Europe.
- ✤ Alternative form: incunable
- ✤ Synonym: fifteener (informal)
- ✤ Sebastian, a profound student of such lore, had long believed that the book was a mere medieval legend; and he had been startled as well as gratified when he found this copy on the shelves of a dealer in old manuscripts and incunabula.1
- ✤ Something about him reminded me of one of those figures from old-fashioned playing cards or the sort used by fortune-tellers, a print straight from the pages of an incunabulum: his presence was both funereal and incandescent, like a curse dressed in its Sunday best.2
- (chiefly in the plural) The cradle, birthplace, or origin of something.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin incūnābulum (“cradle, origin”).
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˌɪn.kjʊˈnæb.jʊ.ləm/
- Audio (US): 🔊
Printed 2026-06-28.
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