squama
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin squāma (“scale”). Doublet of squame.
Noun
squama (plural squamae or squamas)
- (medicine) A scale cast off from the skin; a thin dry shred of epithelium.
- (botany) The bract of a deciduous spike.
- (botany) Any scaly bracted leaf.
Derived terms
- squamation
Further reading
- squama at OneLook Dictionary Search
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for squama in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈskwama/
Etymology 1
From Latin squāma.
Noun
squama f (plural squame)
- (zoology) scale (keratin piece covering the skin of reptiles and fishes)
- Synonym: scaglia
- (anatomy) squama
Derived terms
- squamare
- squamoso
Etymology 2
Inflected form of the verb squamare.
Verb
squama
- third-person singular present indicative of squamare
- second-person singular imperative of squamare
Latin
Etymology
Probably related to squālus (“filthy, foul”) or possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to cover”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈskʷaː.ma/
Noun
squāma f (genitive squāmae); first declension
- scale (of a fish or reptile)
- (by extension) flake; any item shaped like a scale
Inflection
First declension.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | squāma | squāmae |
| Genitive | squāmae | squāmārum |
| Dative | squāmae | squāmīs |
| Accusative | squāmam | squāmās |
| Ablative | squāmā | squāmīs |
| Vocative | squāma | squāmae |
Derived terms
- squāmātus
- squāmeus
- squāmifer / squāmiger
- squāmōsus
- squāmula
Descendants
- Aromanian: scamã
- Asturian: escama
- Catalan: escama, esquama
- English: squama, squame
- French: squame
- Galician: escama
- Italian: squama
- Occitan: escama
- Old French: eschame
- Portuguese: escama
- Romanian: scamă, scvamă
- Spanish: escama
- Venetian: sčiàma
References
- squama in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- squama in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- squama in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette