furca

See also: furcă and furcã

English

Etymology

From New Latin furca (“two-pronged fork”)

Noun

furca (plural furca or furcae)

1. (zoology) A forked structure, a fork-like part.
   • 2023 July, A.V. Izrailskaia, V.V. Besprozvannykh, “Neodiplostomum cf. seoulense (Seo, Rim, Lee, 1964) sensu Pyo et al., 2014 (Trematoda: Diplostomidae Poirier, 1886): morphology, life cycle, and phylogenetic relationships”, in Journal of Helminthology, volume 97, →DOI, page 5:

     Сaudal duct splits up in front of furcae into two canals reaching middle of furcae, where it opens with pores.

   • 2024, Mariusz Kanturski, Yerim Lee, “Miyalachnus—A New Lachninae Aphid Genus from Japan (Insecta, Hemiptera, Aphididae)”, in Insects, volume 15, number 3, →DOI, page 210:

     It has a mesosternum with well-developed, sessile furca. The arms of the mesosternal furca have a broad median and strictured and hemispherical apical part.

   • 2025 January 12, David Grimaldi, “Which Insects Move By Jumping?”, in Entomology Club‎, archived from the original on 6 June 2025:

     Insects like grasshoppers use a specialized structure called the furca to facilitate jumping. The furca operates as a spring, compressing until a critical point is reached, where potential energy converts to kinetic energy, enabling a powerful jump.

Irish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

furca m (genitive singular furca, nominative plural furcaí)

1. wrinkle, pucker, fold

Declension

Declension of furca (fourth declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative furca furcaí vocative a fhurca a fhurcaí genitive furca furcaí dative furca furcaí forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an furca na furcaí genitive an fhurca na bhfurcaí dative leis an bhfurca don fhurca leis na furcaí

Mutation

Mutated forms of furca

radical	lenition	eclipsis
furca	fhurca	bhfurca

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “furca”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959), “furca”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm