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piscina

[pi-sahy-nuh, pi-see-]
noun, plural pis·ci·nae [pi-sahy-nee, pi-see-] /pɪˈsaɪ ni, pɪˈsi-/. Ecclesiastical.
  1. a basin with a drain used for certain ablutions, now generally in the sacristy.
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Origin of piscina

1590–1600; < Medieval Latin, special use of Latin piscīna a fish pond, swimming pool, equivalent to pisc(is) fish + -īna, feminine of -īnus -ine1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for piscina

Historical Examples

  • Well, she got to Lourdes, and dipped her hand into the piscina.

    The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete

    Emile Zola

  • There are remains of a piscina in this chapel, but very much battered.

  • There are ambries in the walls and an eastern altar with a piscina.

    Scottish Cathedrals and Abbeys

    Dugald Butler and Herbert Story

  • Close to the sedilia is a piscina decorated in a similar manner.

  • The piscina or basin built in the wall is the place where you must look for the change.

    Cheshire

    Charles E. Kelsey

British Dictionary definitions for piscina

piscina

noun plural -nae (-niː) or -nas
  1. RC Church a stone basin, with a drain, in a church or sacristy where water used at Mass is poured away
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Derived Formspiscinal (ˈpɪsɪnəl), adjective

Word Origin

C16: from Latin: fish pond, from piscis a fish
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