fossor

[ fos-er ]

noun

1. (in the early Christian church) a minor clergyman employed as a gravedigger.

Word History and Origins

Origin of fossor¹

1850–55; < Latin: digger ( Late Latin: gravedigger), equivalent to fod ( ere ) to dig + -tor -tor, with dt > ss

Example Sentences

Eight specimens from Oak Spring are intergrades between fossor and ocius.

From Project Gutenberg

Among the races of Thomomys talpoides occurring in Utah, fossor most closely resembles Thomomys talpoides uinta in color and size, but differs from it as follows: Ears smaller, more pointed and with more darkly pigmented pinnae.

From Project Gutenberg

Because the animals are more like fossor in the majority of characters, they are here referred to that race.

From Project Gutenberg

Four specimens in the collections of the Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, three from 3 miles east of Creede, Mineral County, and one from 10 miles east of Lake City, Hinsdale County, Colorado, both of which lie north and east of the type locality of fossor show the same characters as the Utah specimens.

From Project Gutenberg

As a result of these studies and due to the paucity of specimens from Utah, it is advisable, for the present, to refer all these Utah animals to fossor.

From Project Gutenberg