Meanings
fossa1
plural fossae · obsolete plural fossæ
- anatomyA pit, groove, cavity, or depression.
- astronomyA long, narrow, shallow depression on the body of an extraterrestrial body, such as a planet or moon.
fossa2
plural fossas
- A large nocturnal reddish-brown catlike mammal (Cryptoprocta ferox) of the civet family, endemic to the rainforests of Madagascar. It is slender, long-tailed and has retractile claws and anal scent glands.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna concavity in a surface (especially an anatomical depression)
nounlargest carnivore of Madagascar; intermediate in some respects between cats and civets
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
fossa · noun
- Latinfossa“a ditch, trench, fosse”
- Englishfossa
Unadapted borrowing from Latin fossa (“a ditch, trench, fosse”). Doublet of fosse.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →fossa · noun
- Malagasyfosa
- Englishfossa
[Alt: Cryptoprocta ferox Borrowing from Malagasy fosa which likely once referred to the Malayan weasel (Mustela nudipes) prior to a semantic shift, thus cognate with Malay pusak and Tagalog pusa both meaning "cat".
More words from Malagasy
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic فوسا
- فوسا (fōsa)Cryptoprocta ferox
Bulgarian трапчинка, впадина
- трапчинка (trapčinka)pit, groove, cavity
- впадина (vpadina)pit, groove, cavity
- дългоопашата вивера (dălgoopašata vivera)Cryptoprocta ferox
Chinese Cantonese 馬島狸 /马岛狸
- 馬島狸 /马岛狸 (maa⁵ dou² lei⁴)Cryptoprocta ferox
Chinese Mandarin 窩 /窝, 馬島長尾狸貓 /马岛长尾狸猫
- 窩 /窝 (wō)pit, groove, cavity
- 馬島長尾狸貓 /马岛长尾狸猫 (Mǎdǎo chángwěilímāo)Cryptoprocta ferox
- 馬島獴 /马岛獴 (Mǎdǎo měng)Cryptoprocta ferox
- 窩靈貓 /窝灵猫 (wōlíngmāo)Cryptoprocta ferox
- 隱肛狸 /隐肛狸 (yǐngānglí)Cryptoprocta ferox
Czech příkop, jáma
- příkoppit, groove, cavity
- jámapit, groove, cavity
- fosaCryptoprocta ferox
Dutch fretkat
- fretkatCryptoprocta ferox
Esperanto foso
- fosoCryptoprocta ferox
Finnish kuoppa, fossa
- kuoppapit, groove, cavity
- fossapit, groove, cavity
- fossaCryptoprocta ferox
French fossa
- fossaCryptoprocta ferox
German Vertiefung, Fossa
- Vertiefungpit, groove, cavity
- FossaCryptoprocta ferox
Hebrew פוֹסָה
- פוֹסָה (fosah)Cryptoprocta ferox
Hungarian fossza
- fosszaCryptoprocta ferox
Irish log, clais
- logpit, groove, cavity
- claispit, groove, cavity
- fosaCryptoprocta ferox
Japanese フォッサ
- フォッサ (fossa)Cryptoprocta ferox
Korean 포사
- 포사 (posa)Cryptoprocta ferox
Norwegian Bokmål fossa
- fossaCryptoprocta ferox
Polish dół, fossa
- dółpit, groove, cavity
- fossaCryptoprocta ferox
Portuguese fossa
- fossaCryptoprocta ferox
Russian фо́сса
- фо́сса (fóssa)Cryptoprocta ferox
Slovak fosa
- fosaCryptoprocta ferox
Swedish fossa, fördjupning
- fossapit, groove, cavity
- fördjupningpit, groove, cavity
- fossaCryptoprocta ferox
Thai ฟอสซา
- ฟอสซาCryptoprocta ferox
Turkish çukur, fossa
- çukurpit, groove, cavity
- fossaCryptoprocta ferox
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with fossa
All rhymes →Cite this entry
fossa. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fossa
“fossa.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fossa. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fossa,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fossa.
Source: fossa on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.