lonza

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

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.

lonza f (plural lonze)

1. a term used in the Middle Ages to describe a type of wild cat, possibly a lynx or leopard (cf. Portuguese onça)
   • mid 1300s–mid 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!

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

Borrowed from Old French longe.

lonza f (plural lonze)

1. loin of pork

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

• lanzo