fossa
UK /ˈfɒsə/ · US /ˈfɑsə/ noun
Forms fossae fossas fossæ
- noun (anatomy) A pit, groove, cavity, or depression.
- noun (astronomy) A long, narrow, shallow depression on the body of an extraterrestrial body, such as a planet or moon.
- noun A large nocturnal reddish-brown catlike mammal (Cryptoprocta ferox) of the civet family, endemic to the rainforests of Madagascar. It is slender, long-tailed and has retractile claws and anal scent glands.
Synonyms
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin fossa (“a ditch, trench, fosse”). Doublet of fosse.
Borrowing from Malagasy fosa which likely once referred to the Malayan weasel (Mustela nudipes) prior to a semantic shift, thus cognate with Malay pusak and Tagalog pusa both meaning "cat".
Webster’s 1913
- noun A pit, groove, cavity, or depression, of greater or less depth; as, the temporal fossa on the side of the skull; the nasal fossæ containing the nostrils in most birds.
Etymology [L., a ditch. See Fosse.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “fossa”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details