glossa

[ glos-uh, glaw-suh ]

noun,plural glos·sae [glos-ee, glaw-see], /ˈglɒs i, ˈglɔ si/, glos·sas.
  1. Anatomy. the tongue.

  2. Entomology. one of a pair of median, sometimes fused lobes of the labium of an insect.

Origin of glossa

1
First recorded in 1885–90, glossa is from the Greek word glôssa tongue

Words Nearby glossa

Other definitions for Glossa (2 of 2)

Glossa
[ glaw-suh ]

noun
  1. Cape, a promontory in SW Albania.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use glossa in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for glossa

glossa

/ (ˈɡlɒsə) /


nounplural -sae (-siː) or -sas
  1. anatomy a technical word for the tongue

  2. a paired tonguelike lobe in the labium of an insect

Derived forms of glossa

  • glossal, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012