lancet

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun an acutely pointed Gothic arch, like a lance
noun a surgical knife with a pointed double-edged blade; used for punctures and small incisions

From Middle English launcet, from Old French lancete, a diminutive of lance. By surface analysis, lance + -et.

It is one for The Lancet. — A farewell to arms, Ernest Hemingway
There were officers’ epaulets and doctors’ lancets. — The Story of the Amulet, E. (Edith) Nesbit
Author of ‘Some Freaks of Atavism’ (Lancet 1882). — The Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle

lancet arch

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