furcula

See also: fúrcula

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰerk(ʷ)- / *ǵʰerg(ʷ)-der.?

Latin furca

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -ula

Latin furculabor.

English furcula

Borrowed from Latin furcula.

Noun

furcula (plural furculae or furculæ)

1. (anatomy) A forked process or structure, generally two-pronged.
2. (ornithology) The forked bone formed by the fusion of the clavicles in birds, the wishbone or merrythought.
3. (entomology) The (two-pronged) forked, somewhat tail-like organ held bent forward and secured by a catch beneath most species of Collembola (springtails), with which they jump by releasing the catch abruptly when alarmed.
   • 2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherlands, Penguin, published 2023, page 215:

     In essence, a furcula is a long, rigid stick, held underneath the body at high tension. When the springtail releases that pressure, the stick pushes down into the ground, or even the water's surface, like an upside-down medieval catapult, firing the springtail into the air in a semi-controlled manner.

Translations

forked bone in birds — see also wishbone

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: （鳥的）鎖骨, （鸟的）锁骨 (niǎo de suǒgǔ)

• Finnish: hankaluu (fi)
• French: lunette (fr) f
• Spanish: fúrcula (es) f

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰerk(ʷ)- / *ǵʰerg(ʷ)-der.?

Latin furca

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -ula

Latin furcula

From furca + -ula.

Noun

furcula f (genitive furculae); first declension

1. small two-pronged fork
2. (in the plural) a narrow pass, defile

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	furcula	furculae
genitive	furculae	furculārum
dative	furculae	furculīs
accusative	furculam	furculās
ablative	furculā	furculīs
vocative	furcula	furculae

Descendants

• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: forcola
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Romansh: forcula, fuorcla, furcla
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Lombard: forcola (Ticino)
  • Romagnol: forcla
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal:
    • Lyonnais: forcola, forcolle (archaic), fricola, farcoule
      • → Rhine Franconian: furkel, firkel
    • Valdôtain: fourcllia
  • Old Occitan: forcola
• Borrowings:
  • → Catalan: furcula (learned)
  • → English: furcula (learned)
  • → French: furcula (learned)
  • → Portuguese: fúrcula (learned)
  • → Spanish: fúrcula (learned)

References

• “furcula”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “furcula”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "furcula", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “furcula”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.