formicula

Latin

Etymology

formīca (“ant”) +‎ -ula (diminutive suffix)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /forˈmiː.ku.la/, [fɔrˈmiːkʊɫ̪ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /forˈmi.ku.la/, [forˈmiːkulä]

Noun

formīcula f (genitive formīculae); first declension

1. (Late Latin) A small ant.

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	formīcula	formīculae
Genitive	formīculae	formīculārum
Dative	formīculae	formīculīs
Accusative	formīculam	formīculās
Ablative	formīculā	formīculīs
Vocative	formīcula	formīculae

Descendants

All borrowed, due to lack of syncope of -cul-.

• Corsican: furmicula
• Italian: formicola
• Romansch: furmicla
• Sicilian: furmicula

References

• “formicula”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press