lorica

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lōrīca, literally "a corselet of thongs", probably from lorum (“thong”).

Noun

lorica (plural loricas or loricae)

1. (historical) A cuirass, originally of leather, afterward of plates of metal or horn sewed on linen or the like.
2. (chemistry, obsolete) Lute for protecting vessels from the fire.
3. (zoology) The protective case or shell of a Loricifera, infusorian or rotifer

Derived terms

• loricate

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 The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.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 “lorica”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Italian

Etymology

From Latin lōrīca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /loˈri.ka/
• Rhymes: -ika
• Hyphenation: lo‧rì‧ca

Noun

lorica f (plural loriche)

1. lorica
   • 1980, Umberto Eco, “Primo giorno - Sesta”, in Il nome della rosa [The Name of the Rose] (I grandi tascabili), Milan: Bompiani, published 1984, page 49:

     Ma orrenda mi parve dal lato opposto un'aquila, il becco dilatato, le piume irte disposte a lorìca, gli artigli possenti, le grandi ali aperte.

     But from the opposite side an eagle looked terrifying, the open beak, the spiked feathers placed like in a lorica, the strong claws, the large wings.

Further reading

• lorica in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Etymology 1

Dubious, but traditionally taken to derive from lōrum (“a leather strap or thong”).

Alternative forms

• lūrīca (Medieval Latin)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /loːˈriː.ka/, [ɫ̪oːˈriːkä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /loˈri.ka/, [loˈriːkä]

Noun

lōrīca f (genitive lōrīcae); first declension

1. A coat of mail
2. A breastplate

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	lōrīca	lōrīcae
genitive	lōrīcae	lōrīcārum
dative	lōrīcae	lōrīcīs
accusative	lōrīcam	lōrīcās
ablative	lōrīcā	lōrīcīs
vocative	lōrīca	lōrīcae

Synonyms

• (coat of mail): cataphractēs
• (breastplate): thōrax

Derived terms

• lōrīca hāmāta
• lōrīca segmentāta
• lōrīca squāmāta

Descendants

• →⇒ Translingual: Loricifera (taxon)
• Catalan: lloriga
• → English: lorica (learned)
• Galician: loriga
• Italian: lorica
• Old Galician-Portuguese: loriga
• Portuguese: loriga
• Romanian: lorică
• Spanish: loriga
• Welsh: llurig

Etymology 2

Form of the verb lōrīcō (“plaster, armour”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /loːˈriː.kaː/, [ɫ̪oːˈriːkäː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /loˈri.ka/, [loˈriːkä]

Verb

lōrīcā

1. second-person singular present active imperative of lōrīcō

References

• “lorica”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “lorica”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "lorica", 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)
• lorica in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “lorica”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “lorica”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin