locusta

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word locusta. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word locusta, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say locusta in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word locusta you have here. The definition of the word locusta will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition oflocusta, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: Locusta

English

Noun

locusta (plural locustae)

  1. (botany) The spikelet or flower cluster of grasses

References

  1. ^ Asa Gray (1857) “.] Locusta.”, in First Lessons in Botany and Vegetable Physiology, , New York, N.Y.: Ivison & Phinney and G P Putnam & Co., , →OCLC.

Anagrams

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin locusta, of uncertain origin. Doublet of the inherited aragosta.

Noun

locusta f (plural locuste)

  1. locust

Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

The origin is uncertain, length of the first vowel varies. According to De Vaan, the only word similar in form and meaning is lacerta (lizard; mackerel) and “they could be cognate words in the language from which Latin borrowed these forms”. Pokorny connects lō̆custa and lacerta with Ancient Greek λάξ (láx) λάγδην (lágdēn, with the foot, adverb), λάκτις (láktis, pestle), λικερτίζειν (likertízein, to jump, to dance) and Old Norse leggr (lower leg, bone), Lombardic lagi (thigh), deriving all from Proto-Indo-European *lek- (joint, member; to bend, to wind), explaining lō̆custa as “equipped with joints”. This is considered unconvincing by De Vaan.

Pronunciation

Noun

lō̆custa f (genitive lō̆custae); first declension

  1. a grasshopper or locust
    • 2015, Tuomo Pekkanen, Ingentes greges locustarum in Russia meridionali. , Nuntii Latini 7.8.2015:
      Ingentēs gregēs lō̆custārum regiōnem Stavropolis in Russiā merīdiōnālī invāsērunt.
      A giant swarm of locusts has invaded the Stavropolsky district in southern Russia.
  2. a crustacean, (prob) a kind of lobster
    lō̆custa marīna/marisa crustacean (literally, “a sea grasshopper”)

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative lō̆custa lō̆custae
Genitive lō̆custae lō̆custārum
Dative lō̆custae lō̆custīs
Accusative lō̆custam lō̆custās
Ablative lō̆custā lō̆custīs
Vocative lō̆custa lō̆custae

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Vulgar Latin: *lacusta (see there for further descendants)
Borrowings

References

Further reading

  • locusta”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • locusta”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • locusta in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • locusta in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • locusta”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • locusta”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray

Middle English

Noun

locusta

  1. Alternative form of locuste