ancillula

English

Etymology

From Latin ancillula, diminutive of ancilla (“handmaid”), a feminine diminutive of anculus (“servant”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ænˈsɪljʊlə/

Noun

ancillula (plural ancillulas)

1. A slave girl; a servant-girl.
   • 1962, Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire:

     I at once telephoned. The Shades were out, said the cheeky ancillula, an obnoxious little fan who came to cook for them on Sundays and no doubt dreamt of getting the old poet to cuddle her some wifeless day.

Latin

Etymology

From ancilla +‎ -ula (diminutive suffix).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

ancillula f (genitive ancillulae); first declension

1. diminutive of ancilla: young female slave or servant

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	ancillula	ancillulae
genitive	ancillulae	ancillulārum
dative	ancillulae	ancillulīs
accusative	ancillulam	ancillulās
ablative	ancillulā	ancillulīs
vocative	ancillula	ancillulae

References

• “ancillula”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ancillula”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ancillula in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.