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fossa

pit

noun FOS-sah Rare
Travel & Places Geography

Origin: From Latin fossa (ditch, pit), from fodere (to dig).

Also means

grave

Usage Note

Fossa is feminine with a regular plural fosse. It ranges from a ditch or trench (fossa comune = mass grave) to anatomical hollows (fossa nasale = nasal cavity) and the oceanic fossa (trench: fossa delle Marianne). The idiom avere un piede nella fossa (to have one foot in the grave) mirrors the English expression.

Examples

"I soldati scavarono una fossa profonda."

Natural Translation

The soldiers dug a deep pit.

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