concha

See also: Concha

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Late Latin concha (“a mussel shell”). Doublet of conch.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒŋ.kə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑŋ.kə/
• Rhymes: (Received Pronunciation) -ɒŋkə, (General American) -ɑŋkə

Noun

concha (plural conchae or (archaic) conchæ)

1. Any shell-shaped structure:
   • 2020 October 19, Miriam Jordan, “Migrant Workers Restricted to Farms Under One Grower’s Virus Lockdown”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 19 October 2020:

     In Virginia, gone are the weekly outings to Walmart to stock up on provisions; to El Ranchito, the Mexican convenience store, to buy shell-shaped concha pastries; and to the laundromat to machine wash heavily soiled garments.

   1. (anatomy) The deepest indentation of the cartilage of the human ear, attaching to the mastoid bone and leading to its central opening.
   2. (anatomy) Alternative form of nasal concha.
2. (architecture) An apse, or the plain semidome of an apse.

Derived terms

• conchal
• inferior concha
• inferior nasal concha
• superior nasal concha

References

• “concha”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “concha”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Etymology 2

Noun

concha

1. Alternative form of kankar.

Etymology 3

Noun

concha (plural conchas)

1. Alternative form of concho (“type of ornament”).

Anagrams

• Chacon, Chanco, NACCHO

Interlingua

Noun

concha (plural conchas)

1. Conch shell.
2. External ear.

Latin

Alternative forms

• conca

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κόγχη (kónkhē, “a mussel or cockle; a shell-like cavity”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkɔŋ.kʰa]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkɔŋ.ka]

Noun

concha f (genitive conchae); first declension

1. A bivalve shellfish; a mollusk; a conch
   • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Virgil, Georgics 2.346–353:

     Quod superest, quaecumque premes virgulta per agros,
     Sparge fimo pingui et multa memor occule terra,
     Aut lapidem bibulum aut squalentis infode conchas;
     Inter enim labentur aquae tenuisque subibit
     Halitus atque animos tollent sata; iamque reperti,
     Qui saxo super atque ingentis pondere testae
     Urgerent; hoc effusos munimen ad imbris,
     Hoc, ubi hiulca siti findit canis aestifer arva.

     • Translation by James B. Greenough

       For the rest, whate'er
       The sets thou plantest in thy fields, thereon
       Strew refuse rich, and with abundant earth
       Take heed to hide them, and dig in withal
       Rough shells or porous stone, for therebetween
       Will water trickle and fine vapour creep,
       And so the plants their drooping spirits raise.
       Aye, and there have been, who with weight of stone
       Or heavy potsherd press them from above;
       This serves for shield in pelting showers, and this
       When the hot dog-star chaps the fields with drought.

   1. A pearl oyster.
      1. A pearl.
   2. The purple-fish.
2. A mussel shell.
   1. A snailshell.
   2. The Triton's trumpet, in form like a snailshell.
3. Objects in the form of a mussel shell:
4. A vessel for holding oil, unguents, salt, etc.
5. synonym of cunnus

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	concha	conchae
genitive	conchae	conchārum
dative	conchae	conchīs
accusative	concham	conchās
ablative	conchā	conchīs
vocative	concha	conchae

Derived terms

• conchula

Descendants

• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Italian: conca
  • Neapolitan: conga
  • Sicilian: conca
  • Venetan: conca
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Ligurian: conca
  • Lombard: conca
  • Piedmontese: conca
  • Romagnol: cônca
• Northern Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: concha, couencha
  • Old French: conche
    • Middle French: conche
      • Bourbonnais-Berrichon: coinche
      • Bourguignon: conche
      • French: conche
      • Lorrain: condge, conge
• Southern Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: conca
  • Old Occitan: conca
    • Occitan: conca

      Limousin: conche

    • → Basque: gonka
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: cuenco
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: conca, cunca
    • Galician: conca, cunca
    • Portuguese: conca
  • Old Spanish: cuenco, cuenca
    • Spanish: cuenco, cuenca
• Borrowings:
  • → Albanian: kungë
  • → English: conch, conk, conque, concha
  • → French: conque
  • → Polish: koncha

References

• “concha”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “concha”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "concha", 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)
• “concha”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “concha”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Portuguese

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *concla, from Latin conchula, diminutive of concha, from Ancient Greek κόγχη (kónkhē), from Proto-Indo-European *kongʰo-

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkõ.ʃɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkõ.ʃɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkõ.ʃa/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkõ.ʃɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkõ.ʃɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkõ.t͡ʃɐ/

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: con‧cha

Noun

concha f (plural conchas)

1. seashell
2. the shell of any mollusk
3. scoop; ladle (specialised spoon for serving)

Derived terms

• conchinha

Related terms

• conchado
• concharia
• concheado
• conchear
• concheira
• conchoso

Further reading

• “concha”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “concha” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin conchula, diminutive of concha, from Ancient Greek κόγχη (kónkhē, “mussel”). Cognate with cuenca (“basin, socket”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkont͡ʃa/ [ˈkõnʲ.t͡ʃa]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ontʃa
• Syllabification: con‧cha

Noun

concha f (plural conchas)

1. seashell

   Synonym: (Isleño) coquilla

2. shell (mollusk)
3. (Mexico) a type of sweet bread (one that resembles a shell in design and in decoration)
4. (vulgar, Rioplatense, Chile, Peru) pussy, cunt

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:vagina

Derived terms

• concha de peregrino
• concha de perla
• concha de tu madre
• conchal
• conchasumadre
• conchatumadre
• conchero
• conchesumadre
• conchudo
• la concha de la lora
• reconcha
• servir concha
• tener conchas

Further reading

• “concha”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
• “concha”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010