loculus

American  

[lok-yuh-luhs] / ˈlɒk yə ləs /

noun

plural

loculi

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

• interloculus noun

Etymology

Origin of loculus

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

Example Sentences

The pentalocular ovary has numerous ovules in each loculus.

From Cocoa and Chocolate Their History from Plantation to Consumer by Knapp, Arthur William

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 Macmillan, Hugh

The picture we are about to examine is found over a loculus or grave in this cemetery of Priscilla.

From The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume 1, February, 1865 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

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 Burton, Richard Francis, Sir