ansa

[ an-suh ]

noun

, plural an·sae [an, -see].

1. Archaeology. a looped handle, especially of a vase.
2. Astronomy. either of the apparent extremities of the rings of Saturn or of other planets, especially when viewed from the earth or from spacecraft under certain conditions, when they look like two handles.
3. Anatomy. a loop-shaped anatomical structure, found primarily in the nervous system.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ansa¹

First recorded in 1400–50 (in the anatomical sense “zygomatic arch”); 1660–70 ansa fordef 2; Middle English, from Latin ānsa “handle (of a cup or jar), handle (of a door), loop, clamp”

Example Sentences

Four people who died when the Bayesian superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily last month suffocated after oxygen depleted in a pocket of air they were trapped in, the Italian news agency Ansa has reported.

From BBC

Witnesses told Italian news agency Ansa that the Bayesian’s anchor was down when the storm struck, causing the mast to break and the ship to lose its balance and sink.

From BBC

The mayor of the nearby town of Camugnano told Ansa news agency a fire was believed to have broken out during maintenance work.

From BBC

The study, published in Life Science Alliance on March 11, 2024, led by co-first authors Ansa Cobham, Ph.D., in the lab of Associate Investigator Nicolas Rohner, Ph.D., and Macarena Pozo-Morales, Ph.D., in the lab of Assistant Professor Sumeet Pal Singh, Ph.D., also showed that this evolutionarily conserved gene can be targeted by an existing drug candidate to protect against liver damage.

From Science Daily

The Enna, Sicily reporter for Italian news agency ANSA, Pierelisa Rizzo, who said she was sued for defamation for her coverage of the trial, said the “Pandora’s Box” of reporting on clergy abuse in Italy was now opened.

From Seattle Times