floccus

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin floccus.

Noun

floccus (plural flocci)

1. (meteorology) A cloud species which consists of rounded tufts of cloud, often formed by dissipation from larger cloud species. Associated with cirrus, cirrocumulus, altocumulus, and stratocumulus genera.
2. A flock or tuft of wool or wool-like hairs
3. The downy plumage of unfledged birds.

Related terms

• bioflocculate
• deflocculate
• deflocculation
• floccillation
• floccose
• floccosely
• floccosus
• flocculate
• flocculation
• flocculent
• flocculents
• flocculose
• flocculus
• paraflocculus
• reflocculation

Latin

Etymology

Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlok-, related to Old High German blaha (“linen, canvas”), Old Swedish blan, bla, both from Proto-Germanic *blahǭ, *blagwǭ (“cloth, linen”), and Old Norse blæja, which is from Proto-Germanic *blahjǭ (“linen, cloth”).

Alternatively, from Proto-West Germanic *flokkō (“down, wool, flock”), from Proto-Germanic *flukkô (“down, piece of wool, flake, fluff”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“hair, fibres, tuft”).

Noun

floccus m (genitive floccī); second declension

1. tuft, wisp of wool
2. (figuratively) trifle (thing of little importance)

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	floccus	floccī
genitive	floccī	floccōrum
dative	floccō	floccīs
accusative	floccum	floccōs
ablative	floccō	floccīs
vocative	flocce	floccī

Derived terms

• floccī nōn faciō
• floccōsus
• flocculus

Descendants

• Balkano-Romance:
  • Romanian: floc
• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Dalmatian: floc, flok
  • Italian: fiocco, flocco
    • → Greek: φλόκι (flóki)
  • Neapolitan: sciuocco
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Friulian: floc
  • Romansh: floc
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Piedmontese: fiòca
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: floc
  • Occitan: flòc
  • Old French: floc
    • French: floc
    • → Middle English: flock
      • English: flock
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: froco
    • Galician: floco, froco
    • Portuguese: floco, froco
  • Spanish: flueco, fleco, lleco
• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian: fiocu, flocu, frocu
• ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *floccāre (see there for further descendants)
• Borrowings:
  • → Albanian: flok
  • → English: floccus, floc
  • → Old High German: floccho (see there for further descendants)
  • → Proto-Brythonic: *flʉx
    • Middle Welsh: ffluch
      • Welsh: ffluwch

References

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