esca

See also: ESCA, ésca, and -esca

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛskə/

Etymology 1

From Latin ēsca (“bait”).

Noun

esca (plural escae)

1. (ichthyology) The fleshy growth from an anglerfish's head that acts as a lure for its prey.
2. (phytopathology) A fungal disease afflicting grapes.

Synonyms

• (anglerfish growth): illicium
• (fungal disease): black measles

Translations

growth on anglerfish's head

Finnish: onki (fi)

Etymology 2

From Galician escá, from Hispanic Late Latin scala (“bowl”) attested in Isidore of Seville, probably from Suevic, from Proto-Germanic *skēlō (“bowl”). Cognate with German Schale and Dutch schaal.

Noun

esca (plural escas)

1. (historical) A traditional Galician unit of dry measure, equivalent to about 6–9 L depending on the substance measured.
2. (historical) A kind of measuring cup once used for measuring escas of grain.

Coordinate terms

• (unit of dry volume): cuartillo (¹⁄₁₂ esca), cunca (¹⁄₆ esca), ferrado (2 escas), fanega (10 escas)

Anagrams

• ACEs, ASCE, Aces, CASE, Case, Ceas, SCEA, aces, aesc, case, æsc

Asturian

Alternative forms

• yesca

Etymology

From Latin ēsca.

Noun

esca f (plural esques)

1. tinder (dry plants used to light a fire)

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈɛs.kə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈəs.kə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈes.ka]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin ēsca.

Noun

esca f (plural esques)

1. amadou (substance derived from the hoof fungus)
2. tinder (dry plants used to light a fire)
3. (figurative) spur, impetus, stimulus

   Synonym: incentiu

4. bait (substance used in catching fish)

   Synonym: esquer

Derived terms

• bolet d’esca
• escar

Further reading

• “esca”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “esca” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Etymology 2

Verb

esca

1. inflection of escar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Galician

Alternative forms

• isca

Etymology

Circa 1300. From Old Galician-Portuguese, from Latin ēsca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeska̝/

Noun

esca f (plural escas)

1. tinder (dry plants used to light a fire)
   • c. 1300, R. Martínez López, General Estoria. Versión gallega del siglo XIV, Oviedo: Publicacións de Archivum, page 220:

     y achou cõ aquel arco hum estormento, et seu esqueyro, et sua ysca, et seu pedernal em el

     there he found, together with that bow, a tinderbox, with its lighter, its tinder, and its flint inside it

2. bait

Derived terms

• chisqueiro
• esqueiro

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “ysca”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “ysca”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “esca”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “esca”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “esca”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Italian

Etymology 1

From Latin ēsca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈes.ka/
• Rhymes: -eska
• Hyphenation: é‧sca

Noun

esca f (plural esche)

1. (obsolete) (animal) food
2. (obsolete, uncommon, also figurative) food
3. bait, lure (anything used to catch animals)
4. (figurative) bait, lure (anything that allures or attracts)
5. (figurative) decoy
6. tinder

Derived terms

• adescare
• inescare
• innescare

Further reading

• esca in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛs.ka/
• Rhymes: -ɛska
• Hyphenation: è‧sca

Verb

esca

1. inflection of uscire:
   1. first/second/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Anagrams

• asce, case, seca