ancilla

English

Etymology

From Latin ancilla (“maid, slave-girl”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ænˈsɪ.lə/
• Rhymes: -ɪlə

Noun

ancilla (plural ancillae)

1. (rare) A maid.
   • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin, published 2011, page 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.

3. (computing) An ancilla bit

   The circuit uses a single ancilla for each stabilizer generator.

Related terms

• ancillary

Anagrams

• aclinal

Latin

Etymology

From ancula (“maid”) +‎ -lus (diminutive form).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

ancilla f (genitive ancillae); first declension

1. maid, slave-girl
2. handmaiden
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 6.551:

     cūr vetet ancillās accēdere, quaeritis?

     Why does she forbid slave-girls to approach, you ask?

   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Lucas.1.38:

     Dīxit autem Maria : Ecce ancilla Dominī : fīat mihi secundum verbum tuum.

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

Declension

First-declension noun.

	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