LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

fossa

fossa f (genitive fossae)
Classical[ˈfɔs.sa]Ecclesiastical[ˈfɔs.sa]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. feminineusuallya ditch, trench, moat, fosse
  2. femininea gutter, waterway
  3. femininea furrow drawn to mark foundations
  4. Late Latinfemininea grave
  5. femininea boundary
    Quiritium quoque fossa [...] Anci regis opus estAlso the Quirites’ ditch was the work of king Ancus27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita I.33

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

locus altus in terrā apertus circum castra; interdum aquā plēnus.
fossa -ae f — in Mille Verba, Bellum et Arma

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativefossafossae
genitivefossaefossārum
dativefossaefossīs
accusativefossamfossās
ablativefossāfossīs
vocativefossafossae

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

fossam ducere
to make a ditch, a fosse.
oppidum cingere vallo et fossa
to surround a town with a rampart and fosse.

fossa, ae, f. fodio, i. e. fossa terra,
I. a ditch, trench, fosse (syn.: fovea, scrobs, fossio).
I. Lit.
A. In gen.: salso suffudit gurgite fossas, Lucr. 5, 482: fodere fossam, Liv. 3, 26, 9: ut unus aditus maximo aggere objecto fossa cingeretur vastissima, Cic. Rep. 2, 6: (oppidum) vallo et fossa circumdedi, id. Fam. 15, 4, 10: pomarium circummunire fossă praecipiti, Col. 5, 10, 1: circumdare moenia vallo atque fossā, Sall. J. 23, 1; and, in a different construction: circumdare fossam latam cubiculari lecto, Cic. Tusc. 5, 20, 59: vallo fossaque munire, Caes. B. G. 2, 5 fin.; cf.: Rheni fossam immanissimis gentibus objicere et opponere, Cic. Pis. 33, 81: fossa et vallo aliquem septum tenere, id. Att. 9, 12, 3: fossam pedum XX. directis lateribus duxit, Caes. B. G. 7, 72, 1; so, fossam ducere, id. ib. 7, 73, 2: transversam fossam obducere, id. ib. 2, 8, 3: praeducere, id. B. C. 1, 27, 3: institutae fossae, id. ib. 3, 46, 5: ut flumen nullam in partem depressis fossis derivari posset, sunk deeper, Hirt. B. G. 8, 40, 3: deprimere fossam, id. ib. 8, 9, 3; cf. Tac. A. 15, 42; 1, 65; Ov. F. 4, 821: cruor in fossam confusus, Hor. S. 1, 8, 28.—
B. In partic.
1. A gutter, waterway, = colliciae, Verg. G. 1, 326; 1, 372.—
2. A furrow drawn to mark foundations, etc.: ipse humili designat moenia fossa, Verg. A. 7, 157; Ov. F. 4, 839; cf. Varr. L. L. 5, 32, § 143.—
3. A grave (late Lat.): FILETIVS VSQVE AT FOTSA (ad fossam), Inscr. Orell. 4794, v. fossor.—
4. In mal. part.: pudenda muliebria, Auct. Priap. 84; cf.: inter Socraticos notissima fossa cinaedos, Juv. 2, 10.—
5. Fos-sa Drūsiāna, v. Drusus.—*
II. Trop., a boundary: alicui fossam determinare, Tert. adv. Haer. 10.

Origins

Ellipsis of fossa terra (“dug-up earth”).

Descendants
  • Catalanfossa
  • Englishfossa
  • Englishfosse
  • Frenchfosse
  • Frenchfossé
  • Italianfossa
  • Italianfosso
  • Occitanfòssa
  • Portuguesefossa
  • Romanianfoasă

Quick answers

What does fossa mean in Latin?
fossa, a noun, means “a ditch, trench, moat, fosse; a gutter, waterway; a furrow drawn to mark foundations”.
What is the genitive of fossa?
The genitive singular is fossae. fossa is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce fossa?
In classical Latin, [ˈfɔs.sa]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈfɔs.sa].