noun
cusp
KUSP/kʌsp/
A projecting point at an edge or boundary.
A sharp cusp projects from the leaf's edge.
Etymology
Latin cuspis meant a point or tip. English first used cusp for the entrance to an astrological house, providing a threshold image that connects with a transition between states or periods.
In context
By 1914, the city of Lions was on the cusp, on the cusp of modernism. As the future of architecture was not in imitating the past, but fulfilling the potential offered by modern technology, ornament was becoming a crime.
More examples
- The crescent moon has a bright cusp at each end.
- The stone arch has a carved cusp on its inner edge.
- Several cusps on the molar help crush food.
Forms
cusp · cusps
Similar words
- point
- A broader term for any sharp or tapered end.
- tip
- Names the end of something, whether pointed or rounded.
- projection
- Can extend outward without ending in a sharp point.