‖ cunabula, n. pl.
(kjuːˈnæbjʊlə)
[L. cūnābula (neut. pl.) cradle, earliest abode. Cf. incunabula.]
1. A cradle; fig. the place where anything is nurtured in its beginnings, the earliest abode.
| 1789 Gilb. White Selborne i. xx. 176 The swallow and house-martin..raising and securely fixing crusts or shells of loam as cunabula for their young. 1864 Webster s.v., The cunabula of the human race. |
2. Applied to the extant copies of the earliest printed books; = incunabula.
| 1846 Worcester cites Athenæum. |