fossa

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɒs.ə/

• Audio (southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɑs.ə/
• Rhymes: -ɒsə

Unadapted borrowing from Latin fossa (“a ditch, trench, fosse”). Doublet of fosse.

fossa (plural fossae or (obsolete) fossæ)

1. (anatomy) A pit, groove, cavity, or depression.

   Coordinate terms: fovea, sinus

   Hyponyms: cubital fossa, fossa of Rosenmüller, glenoid fossa, iliac fossa, incisive fossa, infratemporal fossa, nasal fossa, piriform fossa, popliteal fossa, pterygopalatine fossa, rhomboid fossa, suprainiac fossa, temporal fossa

2. (astronomy) A long, narrow, shallow depression on the body of an extraterrestrial body, such as a planet or moon.

• fosse
• fossula
• fossulate

• fossa (anatomy) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

A fossa in a zoo in Texas, USA

Borrowing from Malagasy fosa which likely once referred to the Malayan weasel (Mustela nudipes) prior to a semantic shift,[1] thus cognate with Malay pusak and Tagalog pusa both meaning "cat".

fossa (plural fossas)

1. A large nocturnal reddish-brown catlike mammal (Cryptoprocta ferox) of the civet family, endemic to the rainforests of Madagascar. It is slender, long-tailed and has retractile claws and anal scent glands.

• → Portuguese: fossa

• fossa (animal) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “fossa”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “fossa”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
• 1. Blench, Roger; Walsh, Martin (2011), “Faunal names in Malagasy: their etymologies and implications for the prehistory of the East African coast”, in 11th International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics‎, Aussois, France, pages 1–31

• SOFAs, sofas

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔ.sə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔ.sa/

Latin fossa

fossa f (plural fosses)

1. grave, pit

   fossa comuna ― mass grave

2. (anatomy, astronomy) fossa

• fossat
• fosser

From Malagasy fosa.

fossa f (plural fosses)

1. fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox)

• “fossa” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

• Rhymes: -ɔsːa

fossa

1. indefinite accusative/genitive plural of foss

From Latin fossa.

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔs.sa/
• Rhymes: -ɔssa
• Hyphenation: fòs‧sa

fossa f (plural fosse)

1. pit, hole
2. grave
3. (anatomy) fossa
4. trough (depression between waves or ridges)

• fossato

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

• sfaso, sfasò

fossa

1. third-person singular/plural imperfect subjunctive of ester

Ellipsis of fossa terra (“dug-up earth”).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈfos.sa/, [ˈfɔs̠ːä]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfos.sa/, [ˈfɔsːä]

fossa f (genitive fossae); first declension

1. (literally)
   1. (in general) a ditch, trench, moat, fosse
   • Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita I, 33:

     Quiritium quoque fossa [...] Anci regis opus est

     Also the Quirites’ ditch was the work of king Ancus

   1. Synonyms: fovea, scrobis, fossiō

   2. a gutter, waterway

      Synonym: colliciae

   3. a furrow drawn to mark foundations
   4. (Late Latin) a grave
2. (transferred sense) a boundary

First-declension noun.

• fossula

• “fossa”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “fossa”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• fossa 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)
• fossa in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to make a ditch, a fosse: fossam ducere
    
  • to surround a town with a rampart and fosse: oppidum cingere vallo et fossa
    
• “fossa”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “fossa”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• fosset

fossa

1. inflection of fosse:
   1. simple past
   2. past participle

From Malagasy fosa.

fossa m (definite singular fossaen, indefinite plural fossaer, definite plural fossaene)

1. a fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox)

fossa

From Malagasy fosa.

fossa m (definite singular fossaen, indefinite plural fossaer or fossaar, definite plural fossaene or fossaane)

1. a fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox)

From the noun foss m (“waterfall”).

• fosse (e- and split infinitives)

fossa (present tense fossar, past tense fossa, past participle fossa, passive infinitive fossast, present participle fossande, imperative fossa/foss)

1. (intransitive) to flow rapidly, fizz, roar, foam

• “fossa” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• ofsas

fossa

1. genitive plural indefinite of foss m

From Latin fossa.[1][2]

fossa f (plural fossas)

1. hole, hollow, cavity

   Synonym: cova

2. septic tank
3. (geology) oceanic trench

• Fossa das Marianas
• fossa nasal

Borrowed from English fossa, from Malagasy fosa.[2]

fossa f (plural fossas)

1. fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

fossa

1. inflection of fossar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative