lonza

See also: Lonza and lonża

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlon.t͡sa/
• Rhymes: -ontsa
• Hyphenation: lón‧za

Etymology 1

Dante encountering the lonza in his Inferno

Probably from Vulgar Latin *luncea, from Latin lynx, whence also Italian lince (a borrowed doublet). Cognate to French once.

Alternative forms

• leonza, onza

Noun

lonza f (plural lonze)

1. (literary) term used in the Middle Ages to describe a type of wild cat, possibly a lynx or leopard (cf. Portuguese onça)
   • 1300s–1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto I”, in Inferno [Hell], lines 31–33; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     Ed ecco, quasi al cominciar de l'erta, ¶ una lonza leggera e presta molto, ¶ che di pel macolato era coverta; […]

     And lo! almost where the ascent began, a panther light and swift exceedingly, which with a spotted skin was covered o'er!

2. (zoology, uncommon) alternative name for two species of felines:
   1. snow leopard, irbis (Panthera uncia)
   2. jaguar (Panthera onca)

Further reading

• lónza¹ in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• lonza (animale) on the Italian Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^it

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Old French longe.

Noun

lonza f (plural lonze)

1. loin of pork

Further reading

• lónza² in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• lonza on the Italian Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^it

Anagrams

• lanzo