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

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

Interment in the wall-recess or loculus, though infinitely the most common, was not the only mode employed in the catacombs.

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

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

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

An ordinary grave was called locus or loculus, if it contained a single body; or bisomum, trisomum, or quadrisomum, if it contained two, three, or four.

From Walks in Rome by Augustus J. C. Hare

The ovary is partially adherent, is surmounted by a style, and has two or three loculi with an axile placenta, to which several small curved ovules are attached.

From Vegetable Teratology An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants by Maxwell T. Masters

In the catacomb of S. Hermes, part of the wide sand-pit road has been reduced to one-third of its width, by building up brick walls on each side with loculi in them.

From Museum of Antiquity A Description of Ancient Life by T. L. (Thomas Louis) Haines

Near this a whole region of galleries has been brought to light with loculi intact.

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

Three sides of the mighty hall were lined with loculi or niches, each as deep as the length of a man.

From Romance Island by Zona Gale

They then proceeded to the distribution of the loculi in equal lots, the loculi representing, as it were, the dividend of the company.

From Pagan and Christian Rome by Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani

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