loculus

American  

[lok-yuh-luhs] / ˈlɒk jə ləs /

noun

• loculi
  plural

1. Biology. locule.

2. Ecclesiastical. a compartment in an altar, in which relics are kept.

3. a recess in an ancient catacomb or tomb, where a body or cinerary urn was placed.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interloculus
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• loculi
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of loculus

1855–60; < New Latin, special use of Latin loculus, diminutive of locus place; see locus, -ule

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

loculus loculi

Unicamerate, ū-ni-kam′e-rāt, adj. having one chamber or loculus, unilocular.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

Unilocular, ū-ni-lok′ū-lar, adj. having but one loculus or cavity, as the heart of an amphioxus.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

The symbol of a foot was carved on the marble slab that closed the loculus or tomb, to indicate that it was the purchased property of the person who reposed in it.

From Roman Mosaics Or, Studies in Rome and Its Neighbourhood by Hugh Macmillan

Doric, the only sign of ornamentation found inside the tombs; a small break in the south-western wall connects it with the northernmost loculus of No. 2.

From The Land of Midian — Volume 1 by Sir Richard Francis Burton

These inferiæ, or rites, could be celebrated easily if the loculus and the cinerary urn were near the ground, while ladders were required to reach the upper tiers.

From Pagan and Christian Rome by Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani

Some of the loculi were closed with tiles, others with pagan inscriptions which the fossores had found by chance in tunnelling their way into the crypt.

From Pagan and Christian Rome by Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani

Several of the horizontal loculi contained the bones of men and beasts: I did not disturb them, as all appeared to be modern.

From The Land of Midian — Volume 1 by Sir Richard Francis Burton

The sides of the galleries contain several rows of loculi, sometimes six or eight.

From Pagan and Christian Rome by Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani

The tomb contained one hundred and eighty loculi for cinerary urns, and each of the shareholders was consequently entitled to five.

From Pagan and Christian Rome by Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani

The mode of interment, however, is the same as that practised in Rome, and the loculi and arcosolia differ by little in the two.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5 "Cat" to "Celt" by Various

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