1555–65; < Latin < Greek skotía darkness (from its shadow)
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The latter is a true cornice, composed of a small torus or bead, a scotia, and a fillet.
From A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria, v. 1 by Armstrong, Walter, Sir
If properly taught the beauty in the orders of architecture can be brought out in the making of the bead, fillet, scotia, cove, etc.
From A Course In Wood Turning by Milton, Archie S.
Just at the edge of the corona a line should be cut in, called the scotia.
From The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio
In section this moulding may be compared to a large scotia divided into two cavettos by a torus.
From A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria, v. 1 by Armstrong, Walter, Sir
Zann was back home in Truro, Nova Scotia, figuring out her next chapter when she received an email from a friend who said producers at Disney were looking to have her audition for a show.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
The ship and its passengers braved the Scotia Sea, where stormy conditions caused swells up to 23 feet high.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
Massive infrastructure projects generally take longer than political honeymoons like the one Carney is enjoying, warns Alex Marland, professor of Canadian politics at Acadia University in Nova Scotia.
From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026
Two other Conservative MPs, Chris d'Entremont of Nova Scotia and Michael Ma of Ontario, had crossed the floor late last year to join Carney's government.
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2026
I know he grew up on a farm in the backwoods of Nova Scotia, where they didn’t have running water or electricity.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
