theca

English

Strawberry anther with parallel thecae

Etymology

From New Latin, from Latin thēca, from Ancient Greek θήκη (thḗkē, “a case, box, receptacle”), from τίθημι (títhēmi, “put, set, place”). Doublet of tay.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈθiːkə/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

theca (plural thecas or thecae)

1. (biology) Any external case or sheath.
2. (botany) The pollen-producing organ usually found in pairs and forming an anther.
3. (medicine) The twin layers of cells surrounding the basal lamina of an ovarian follicle.
4. (microbiology, planktology) The membrane complex enveloping the cells of certain plankton including diatoms and dinoflagellates.
5. (marine biology) The calcareous wall of a corallite, the exoskeleton of a coral polyp.
6. (Christianity) A case for the corporal cloth used in the Eucharist.

Theca (1) of a dinoflagellate

Derived terms

• epitheca
• gnathotheca
• hypotheca
• ootheca
• spermatheca
• theca cordis
• theca externa
• theca folliculi
• theca interna
• thecal
• thecate
• thecoma

 

Related terms

• thecium

Further reading

• “theca”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “theca”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “theca”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• 'tache, Tache, Taché, Teach, Tâche, chate, cheat, he-cat, tache, teach

Kikuyu

Alternative forms

• theeca

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ðɛːɕa/

Verb

theca (infinitive gũtheca)

1. to pierce, to stab

Related terms

(Nouns)

• mũthece class 3

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek θήκη (thḗkē, “a case, box, receptacle”), from τίθημι (títhēmi, “put, set, place”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈtʰeː.ka/, [ˈt̪ʰeːkä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈte.ka/, [ˈt̪ɛːkä]

Noun

thēca f (genitive thēcae); first declension

1. a case, envelope, sheath

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	thēca	thēcae
Genitive	thēcae	thēcārum
Dative	thēcae	thēcīs
Accusative	thēcam	thēcās
Ablative	thēcā	thēcīs
Vocative	thēca	thēcae

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Aromanian: teacã
  • Megleno-Romanian: teacă
  • Romanian: teacă
• North Italian:
  • Ligurian: téiga
  • Piedmontese: teja
  • Romansch: taja
  • Venetian: tega
• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: tega
  • Neapolitan: teche (Abruzzese)
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Old French: teie, toie
    • Bourguignon: taye, toie, toûe
    • Champenois: toïe, toye, touye
    • Middle French: taye, taie, toie, toye
      • French: taie
      • → Middle English: tay
    • Lorrain: taye, tâye, tôe
    • Walloon: toye
• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian:

    Campidanese: tega

    Logudorese: tega

    Nuorese: teca

• Borrowings:
  • → English: theca
  • → Middle Dutch: teke
    • Dutch: teek (archaic)
    • → German: Theke
  • → Old Irish: tiach
    • Irish: tiach
  • → French: thèque, -thèque
  • → Hungarian: téka, -téka
  • → Italian: teca
  • → Polish: -teka
  • → Old Occitan: teca
    • Occitan: teca
  • → Spanish: teca, tecla
  • → Walloon: tîke
  • → Old Welsh: tuic
  • → Proto-West Germanic: *tēkā (see there for further descendants)

See also

• bibliothēca
• hypothēca

References

• “theca”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “theca”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• theca 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)
• theca in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “theca”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.