fossa

See also: Fossa, fossá, fossą, and Fossą

English

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈfɒsə/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈfɑsə/, /ˈfɔsə/
  • Rhymes: -ɒsə, -ɑsə, -ɔsə

Noun

fossa (plural fossae or (obsolete) fossæ)

  1. (anatomy) A pit, groove, cavity, or depression.
    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
    Coordinate terms: fovea, sinus; fissure, sulcus, cleft, lacuna, vallecula
  2. (astronomy) A long, narrow, shallow depression on the body of an extraterrestrial body, such as a planet or moon.
Derived terms
Translations

References

Etymology 2

Cryptoprocta ferox
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".

Pronunciation

  • Approximation of Malagasy pronunciation [ˈfusə̥]:
    • (UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈfuː.sə/, /ˈfʊ.sə/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Spelling pronunciation according to English orthography:
    • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈfɒ.sə/
    • (US) IPA(key): /ˈfɑ.sə/, /ˈfɔ.sə/
  • Rhymes: -uːsə, -ʊsə, -ɒsə, -ɑsə, -ɔsə

Noun

fossa (plural fossas)

  2. 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.
Descendants
  • → Portuguese: fossa
Translations

References

  • ^ 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[1], Aussois, France, archived from the original on 8 December 2025, pages 1–31

    • Anagrams

    Catalan

    Etymology 1

      Inherited from Latin fossa.

      Pronunciation

      Noun

      fossa f (plural fosses)

      1. grave, pit
        fossa comuna ― mass grave
      2. (anatomy, astronomy) fossa
      Derived terms

      Etymology 2

        Borrowed from Malagasy fosa.

        Pronunciation

        Noun

        fossa f (plural fosses)

        1. fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox)

        Etymology 3

        Pronunciation

        Verb

        fossa

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

        Further reading

        Hungarian

        Etymology

        From fosik or fos +‎ -ja (personal suffix)

        Pronunciation

        • IPA(key): [ˈfoʃːɒ]
        • Hyphenation: fos‧sa
        • Rhymes: -ʃɒ

        Verb

        fossa

        1. third-person singular indicative present definite of fosik or fos
        2. third-person singular subjunctive present definite of fosik or fos

        Usage notes

        This form also occurs when a verbal prefix is separated from the verb:

        Icelandic

        Pronunciation

        • Rhymes: -ɔsːa

        Noun

        fossa

        1. indefinite accusative/genitive plural of foss

        Italian

        Etymology

          From Latin fossa.

          Pronunciation

          • IPA(key): /ˈfɔs.sa/[1]
          • Rhymes: -ɔssa
          • Hyphenation: fòs‧sa

          Noun

          fossa f (plural fosse)

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

          Derived terms

          References

          1. ^ “fossa” in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

          Further reading

          • “fossa”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

          Anagrams

          Ladin

          Verb

          fossa

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

          Latin

          Etymology

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

          Pronunciation

          Noun

          fossa f (genitive fossae); first declension

          1. (literal)
            1. (in general) a ditch, trench, moat, fosse
            Synonyms: fovea, scrobis, fossiō
            1. a gutter, waterway
              Synonym: colliciae
            2. a furrow drawn to mark foundations
            3. (Late Latin) a grave
          2. (transferred sense) a boundary

          Inflection

          First-declension noun.

          singular plural
          nominative fossa fossae
          genitive fossae fossārum
          dative fossae fossīs
          accusative fossam fossās
          ablative fossā fossīs
          vocative fossa fossae

          Derived terms

          Descendants

          Descendants

          References

          • “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, 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[2], 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

          Norwegian Bokmål

          Etymology 1

          See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

          Alternative forms

          Verb

          fossa

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

          Etymology 2

          From Malagasy fosa.

          Noun

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

          1. a fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox)

          Norwegian Nynorsk

          Etymology 1

          fossa

          From Malagasy fosa.

          Noun

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

          1. a fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox)

          Etymology 2

          From the noun foss m (“waterfall”). Compare Swedish forsa.

          Alternative forms

          • fosse (e- and split infinitives)

          Verb

          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

          References

          Anagrams

          • ofsas

          Old Norse

          Noun

          fossa

          1. genitive plural indefinite of foss m

          Polish

          Etymology

            Borrowed from Malagasy fosa.

            Pronunciation

            • IPA(key): /ˈfɔs.sa/
            • Rhymes: -ɔssa
            • Syllabification: fos‧sa
            • Homophone: Fossa

            Noun

            fossa f

            1. fossa (any mammal of the genus Cryptoprocta)

            Declension

            Declension of fossa
            singular plural
            nominative fossa fossy
            genitive fossy foss
            dative fossie fossom
            accusative fossę fossy
            instrumental fossą fossami
            locative fossie fossach
            vocative fosso fossy

            Further reading

            • “fossa”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[3] (in Polish)

            Portuguese

            Pronunciation

            • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈfɔ.sɐ/

            • Rhymes: -ɔsɐ

            Etymology 1

              From Latin fossa.[1][2]

              Noun

              fossa f (plural fossas)

              1. hole, hollow, cavity
                Synonym: cova
              2. septic tank
              3. (geology) oceanic trench
              Derived terms

              Etymology 2

              Etymology tree
              Malagasy fosa
              English fossabor.
              Portuguese fossa

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

                Noun

                fossa f (plural fossas)

                1. fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox)

                Etymology 3

                  See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

                  Verb

                  fossa

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

                  References

                  1. ^ “fossa”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
                  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 “fossa”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

                  Further reading

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