glossa

English

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek γλῶσσᾰ (glôssa, “tongue”).

Noun

glossa (plural glossae)

1. (zoology) The tongue, or lingua, of an insect.

Related terms

• paraglossa

Translations

zoology: insect’s tongue, lingua

• Bulgarian: език (bg) m (ezik)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “glossa”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

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Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin glossa. Compare the doublet chiosa.

Noun

glossa f (plural glosse)

1. gloss (explanatory note)

Related terms

• glossare

Verb

glossa

1. third-person singular present indicative of glossare
2. second-person singular imperative of glossare

Anagrams

• glasso, glassò

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Italiot Greek

Noun

glossa f

1. Italiot dialect form of γλώσσα (glóssa)

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Latin

FWOTD – 29 November 2015

Alternative forms

• glōsa
• gloss. (abbreviation)

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek γλῶσσᾰ (glôssa).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈɡloːs.sa/, [ˈɡɫ̪oːs̠ːä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈɡlos.sa/, [ˈɡlɔsːä]

Noun

glōssa f (genitive glōssae); first declension

1. an obsolete, foreign, rare, or otherwise obscure or difficult term that requires explanation
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Ausonius to this entry?)
   • circa AD 95, Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (author), Harold Edgeworth Butler (editor, translator), Institutio Oratoria (1920), book I, chapter i, § 35:

     protinus enim potest interpretationem linguae secretioris, quas Graeci γλώσσας vocant, dum aliud agitur, ediscere et inter prima elementa consequi rem postea proprium tempus desideraturam. et quoniam circa res adhuc tenues moramur, ii quoque versus, qui ad imitationem scribendi proponentur, non otiosas velim sententias habeant sed honestum aliquid monentes.

     He can readily learn the explanations or glosses, as the Greeks call them, of the more obscure words by the way and, while he is still engaged on the first rudiments, acquire what would otherwise demand special time to be devoted to it. And as we are still discussing minor details, I would urge that the lines, which he is set to copy, should not express thoughts of no significance, but convey some sound moral lesson. ― translation from the same source

   1. (Late Latin) an explanation or interpretation of such a word
      • (Can we find and add a quotation of Isidore of Seville to this entry?)
   2. (Medieval Latin) an explanation added to a passage of text, a gloss
2. (in the plural, as glossae) a term applied to collections of such words with explanations, a glossary
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Marcus Terentius Varro to this entry?)
   1. (Medieval Latin) a series of glosses assembled into a commentary
3. (Medieval Latin) a language, dialect, or peculiar idiom
4. (Medieval Latin) an image or example (of a thing)

Usage notes

• This word is written in untransliterated Greek in some Classical sources.

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	glōssa	glōssae
Genitive	glōssae	glōssārum
Dative	glōssae	glōssīs
Accusative	glōssam	glōssās
Ablative	glōssā	glōssīs
Vocative	glōssa	glōssae

Synonyms

• (obscure or difficult word requiring explanation): glossēma
• (explanation or interpretation of a glossa): interpretātiō
• (a collection of glossae with explanations): glossārium, glossātūra, glossēmata
• (language, dialect, or idiom): idiōma, lingua
• (image or example [of a thing]): exemplum, imāgō

Derived terms

• glossa vocābulī
• glossella
• glossō
• glossula

Related terms

• glossārium
• glossātiō
• glossātor
• glossātūra
• glossātus liber
• glossēma
• glossēmaticus
• glossochomum
• glossographus
• glossopetra
• glottis

Descendants

• English: gloss
• Irish: gluais
• Italian: chiosa, glossa
• Portuguese: glosa
• Spanish: glosa

References

• “glossa”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• 1. GLOSSA 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)
• 2. GLOSSA 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)
• glossa in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 716/2.
• “glossa”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “glossa” on page 767/3 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
• Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976) “glossa”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill, page 470/2