cochlea

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cochlea (“a snail”), from Ancient Greek κόχλιας (kókhlias, “a snail with a spiral shell”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒk.li.ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkoʊ.kli.ə/, /ˈkɑk.li.ə/

Noun

cochlea (plural cochleae or cochleas)

1. (anatomy) The complex, spirally coiled, tapered cavity of the inner ear of higher vertebrates, which contains the organ of Corti and in which sound vibrations are converted into nerve impulses.
2. A spiral-shaped shell, especially that of a snail.

Derived terms

• cochlear

Translations

Translations

• Afrikaans: koglea
• Breton: kokleenn f
• Bulgarian: ушен охлюв (ušen ohljuv)
• Catalan: còclea (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 耳蝸／耳蜗 (zh) (ěrwō or ěrguā [Taiwan])

• Czech: hlemýžď (cs) m
• Dutch: slakkenhuis (nl) n
• Finnish: simpukka (fi)
• French: cochlée (fr) f
• German: Hörschnecke
• Greek: κοχλίας (el) m (kochlías)
• Hungarian: csiga (hu)
• Icelandic: kuðungur (is) m
• Japanese: 蝸牛 (ja) (かぎゅう, kagyū)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: lûlpêç m

• Norwegian: sneglehuset
• Portuguese: caracol (pt) m, cóclea f
• Russian: ули́тка (ru) f (ulítka)
• Spanish: cóclea (es) f
• Swedish: hörselsnäcka (sv) c, öronsnäcka (sv) c, koklea (sv)
• Tagalog: karakol
• Thai: หูชั้นในรูปหอยโข่ง
• Turkish: kulak salyangozu

References

• “cochlea”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “cochlea”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Latin

Alternative forms

• coclea, coclia, cochlia

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κοχλῐ́ᾱς (kokhlíās, “snail with a spiral shell”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈko.kʰle.a/, [ˈkɔkʰɫ̪eä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈko.kle.a/, [ˈkɔːkleä]

Noun

cochlea f (genitive cochleae); first declension

1. snail

   in cochleam ― snail-shaped, in the shape of a spiral

   1. snailshell
2. (metonymically)
   1. spiral (form of a snailshell)
   2. screw of a press
   3. Archimedes' screw, water screw, screw pump (machine for drawing water by raising it)
   4. A kind of revolving door.

Inflection

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cochlea	cochleae
Genitive	cochleae	cochleārum
Dative	cochleae	cochleīs
Accusative	cochleam	cochleās
Ablative	cochleā	cochleīs
Vocative	cochlea	cochleae

Derived terms

• coc(h)lear
• coc(h)leārium
• coc(h)leātim
• coc(h)leātus

Descendants

Descendants of cochlea in other languages

• → Catalan: còclea
• → English: cochlea
• → Italian: coclea
• → Portuguese: cóclea
• → Spanish: cóclea

References

• “cochlea” on page 373 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)

Further reading

• “cochlea”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “cochlea”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cochlea in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “cochlea”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “cochlea”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin