cochlea

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cochlea (“snail”), from Ancient Greek κοχλίας (kokhlías, “spiral, snail shell”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɒk.lɪə/

Noun

cochlea (plural cochleas or cochleae)

1. (anatomy) The complex, spirally coiled, tapered cavity of the inner ear in which sound vibrations are converted into nerve impulses.
2. A spiral-shaped shell, especially that of a snail.

Derived terms

• cochlear

Translations

the complex, spirally coiled, tapered cavity of the inner ear

• Afrikaans: koglea
• Bulgarian: ушен охлюв (ušen ohljuv)
• Catalan: còclea (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 耳蝸／耳蜗 (zh) (ěrwō), 耳蜗 (zh) (ěrwō or ěrguā [Taiwan])

• Czech: hlemýžď (cs) m
• Finnish: simpukka (fi)
• French: cochlée (fr) f
• German: Hörschnecke
• Greek: κοχλίας (el) m (kochlías)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: csiga (hu)
• Icelandic: kuðungur (is) m
• Japanese: 蝸牛 (ja) (かぎゅう, kagyū)
• Norwegian: sneglehuset
• Portuguese: caracol (pt) m, cóclea f
• Russian: ули́тка (ru) f (ulítka)
• Spanish: cóclea (es) f
• Swedish: hörselsnäcka (sv) c, öronsnäcka (sv) c, koklea (sv)
• Tagalog: karakol

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Latin

Alternative forms

• coclea

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κοχλίας (kokhlías, “spiral, snail shell”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈko.kʰle.a/, [ˈkɔkʰɫ̪eä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈko.kle.a/, [ˈkɔːkleä]

Noun

cochlea f (genitive cochleae); first declension

1. snail
2. snail shell
3. spiral

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cochlea	cochleae
Genitive	cochleae	cochleārum
Dative	cochleae	cochleīs
Accusative	cochleam	cochleās
Ablative	cochleā	cochleīs
Vocative	cochlea	cochleae

Derived terms

• cochlear
• cochleārium

Descendants

• Catalan: còclea
• English: cochlea
• Italian: chiocciola, coclea

• Portuguese: cóclea
• Romanian: ghioc
• Spanish: cóclea

References

• “cochlea”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• cochlea 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)
• cochlea in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.