floccus

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin floccus.

Noun

floccus (plural flocci)

  1. (meteorology) A cloud species which consists of rounded tufts of cloud, often formed by dissipation from larger cloud species. Associated with cirrus, cirrocumulus, altocumulus, and stratocumulus genera.[1]
  2. A flock or tuft of wool or wool-like hairs; the downy plumage of unfledged birds.

Latin

Etymology

Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlok-, related to Old High German blaha, Old Swedish blan, bla, both from Proto-Germanic *blahwo (“tuft”), and Old Norse blæja, which is from Proto-Germanic *blahjon (“flock of wool”).[2]

Noun

floccus m (genitive floccī); second declension

  1. tuft, wisp of wool

Declension

Second declension.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative floccus floccī
Genitive floccī floccōrum
Dative floccō floccīs
Accusative floccum floccōs
Ablative floccō floccīs
Vocative flocce floccī

Derived terms

Descendants
  • Dalmatian: floc, flok
  • Eastern Romance:
  • Italian: fiocco
  • Old French: floc
    • French: floc
    • → Middle English: flock
      • English: flock (“tuft of wool”)
  • Old Occitan:
    • Catalan: floc
    • Occitan: flòc
  • Old Portuguese: frocco
  • Piedmontese: fiòca
  • Old Spanish:
  • Rhaeto-Romance:
  • → Albanian: flok
  • → English: floccus
  • → English: floc

References
  • floccus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • floccus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • floccus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
  1. AMS Glossary of Meteorology
  2. Szemerenyi, Scripta minora: selected essays in Indo-European, Greek, and Latin, Volume 2, p. 714
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