# fossa
## English
### Etymology 1

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

#### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈfɒ.sə/
* (US) IPA: /ˈfɑ.sə/, /ˈfɔ.sə/
* Rhymes: -ɒsə, -ɑsə, -ɔsə

#### Noun

fossa (plural fossae or (obsolete) fossæ)
* (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
* (astronomy) A long, narrow, shallow depression on the body of an extraterrestrial body, such as a planet or moon.

##### Derived terms

* cerebral fossa
* pterygomaxillary fossa
* pyriform fossa
* sphenomaxillary fossa
* sphenopalatine fossa

##### Related terms

* fosse
* fossula
* fossulate

##### Translations
#### References

* fossa (anatomy) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Etymology 2

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

#### Pronunciation

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

#### Noun

fossa (plural fossas)
* 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
* → Translingual: Fossa

##### Translations
#### References

* fossa (animal) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* “fossa”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* “fossa”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
* ↑ 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

### Anagrams

* sofas, Fasos, SOFAs

## Catalan
### Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin fossa.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [ˈfo.sə]
* IPA: (Balearic) [ˈfɔ.sə]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈfɔ.sa]

#### Noun

fossa f (plural fosses)
* grave, pit
    fossa comuna ― mass grave
* (anatomy, astronomy) fossa

##### Derived terms

* fossat
* fosser

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Malagasy fosa.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [ˈfo.sə]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈfo.sa]

#### Noun

fossa f (plural fosses)
* fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox)

### Etymology 3
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [ˈfo.sə]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈfo.sa]

#### Verb

fossa
* inflection of fossar:
** third-person singular present indicative
** second-person singular imperative

### Further reading

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

## Hungarian
### Etymology

From fosik or fos +‎ -ja (personal suffix)

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈfoʃːɒ]
* Hyphenation: fos‧sa
* Rhymes: -ʃɒ

### Verb

fossa
* third-person singular indicative present definite of fosik or fos
* 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:
* fossa (…) le, le … fossa ― lefossa ― lefos
* and some more, see its derivatives with verbal prefixes.

## Icelandic
### Pronunciation

* Rhymes: -ɔsːa

### Noun

fossa
* indefinite accusative/genitive plural of foss

## Italian
### Etymology

From Latin fossa.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈfɔs.sa/
* Rhymes: -ɔssa
* Hyphenation: fòs‧sa

### Noun

fossa f (plural fosse)
* pit, hole
* grave
* (anatomy) fossa
* trough (depression between waves or ridges)

#### Derived terms

* affossare
* formaggio di fossa
* fossa comune
* fossetta
* infossare

#### Related terms

* fossato

### References

* ↑ fossa in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

### Further reading

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

### Anagrams

* sfaso, sfasò

## Ladin
### Verb

fossa
* third-person singular/plural imperfect subjunctive of ester

## Latin
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈfos.sa/, [ˈfɔs̠ːä]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈfos.sa/, [ˈfɔsːä]

### Noun

fossa f (genitive fossae); first declension
* (literal)
** (in general) a ditch, trench, moat, fosse
** 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita I.33:Quiritium quoque fossa [...] Anci regis opus estAlso the Quirites’ ditch was the work of king Ancus
    Synonyms: fovea, scrobis, fossiō
** a gutter, waterway
    Synonym: colliciae
** a furrow drawn to mark foundations
** (Late Latin) a grave
* (transferred sense) a boundary
* This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!

#### Inflection

First-declension noun.

#### Derived terms

* fossula

#### Related terms

* fodiō
* fossātum
* fossātus
* fossīcius
* fossilis
* fossiō
* fossō
* fossor
* fossōrius
* fossūra

#### Descendants

* → Albanian: fushë
* Asturian: fuexa, → fosa
* → Byzantine Greek: φόσσα (phóssa)
** → Classical Syriac: ܦܲܣܵܐ, ܦܲܐܣܵܐ (passā)
** → Old Armenian: փոս (pʻos)
*** Armenian: փոս (pʻos)
*** → Georgian: ფოსო (poso)
* → Catalan: fossa
* → English: fossa, fosse
* → French: fosse, fossé
* Friulian: fuesse
* Galician: focha, → fosa
* Italian: fossa, fosso
* → Occitan: fòssa
* → Portuguese: fossa
* Romanian: foasă, → fosă
* → Romansch: fossa
* → Sicilian: fossa, fossu
* Spanish: huesa, → fosa
* Venetan: fosa
* → Proto-Brythonic: *fos
** Cornish: fos
** Welsh: ffos

### 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’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

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Alternative forms

* fosset

#### Verb

fossa
* inflection of fosse:
** simple past
** past participle

### Etymology 2

From Malagasy fosa.

#### Noun

fossa m (definite singular fossaen, indefinite plural fossaer, definite plural fossaene)
* a fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox)

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology 1

From Malagasy fosa.

#### Noun

fossa m (definite singular fossaen, indefinite plural fossaer or fossaar, definite plural fossaene or fossaane)
* 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)
* (intransitive) to flow rapidly, fizz, roar, foam

### References

* “fossa” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

### Anagrams

* ofsas

## Old Norse
### Noun

fossa
* genitive plural indefinite of foss m

## Polish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Malagasy fosa.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈfɔs.sa/
* Rhymes: -ɔssa
* Syllabification: fos‧sa
* Homophone: Fossa

### Noun

fossa f
* fossa (any mammal of the genus Cryptoprocta)

#### Declension
### Further reading

* fossa in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Portuguese
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈfɔ.sɐ/
* Rhymes: -ɔsɐ

### Etymology 1

From Latin fossa.

#### Noun

fossa f (plural fossas)
* hole, hollow, cavity
    Synonym: cova
* septic tank
* (geology) oceanic trench

##### Derived terms

* Fossa das Marianas
* fossa nasal

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from English fossa, from Malagasy fosa.

#### Noun

fossa f (plural fossas)
* fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox)

### Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Verb

fossa
* inflection of fossar:
** third-person singular present indicative
** second-person singular imperative

### References

* ↑ “fossa”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
* 1 2 “fossa”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025