ancilla

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin ancilla (“maid, slave-girl”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ænˈsɪ.lə/

Noun

ancilla (plural ancillae)

1. A maid.
   • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, p. 306:

     ‘And pass me that towel,’ added Ada, but the ancilla was picking up coins she had dropped in her haste […]

2. An auxiliary or accessory
   • 2009 January 23, Ryo Okamoto et al., “An Entanglement Filter”, in Science‎^[1], volume 323, number 5913, →DOI:

     The filter achieves this two-qubit filtering effect by using two ancilla photons as probes that detect whether or not the two input photons are in the desired states.

Related terms

• ancillary

Anagrams

• aclinal

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Latin

Etymology

From ancula (“maid”) +‎ -lus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /anˈkil.la/, [äŋˈkɪlːʲä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /anˈt͡ʃil.la/, [än̠ʲˈt͡ʃilːä]

• Audio (Classical):

  (file)

Noun

ancilla f (genitive ancillae); first declension

1. maid, slave-girl
   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Lucas.1.38:

     dixit autem Maria ecce ancilla Domini fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum

     And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ancilla	ancillae
Genitive	ancillae	ancillārum
Dative	ancillae	ancillīs
Accusative	ancillam	ancillās
Ablative	ancillā	ancillīs
Vocative	ancilla	ancillae

Derived terms

• ancillāriolus
• ancillāris
• ancillor
• ancillula

 

Related terms

• ancillātus
• ancula

References

• “ancilla”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ancilla”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ancilla in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• ancilla in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “ancilla”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ancilla”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin