praefica

Latin

Etymology

Derived from praeficiō (“I place in command”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈprae̯.fi.ka/, [ˈpräe̯fɪkä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpre.fi.ka/, [ˈprɛːfikä]

Noun

praefica f (genitive praeficae); first declension

1. A woman hired to lament at the head of a funeral procession; wailer

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	praefica	praeficae
Genitive	praeficae	praeficārum
Dative	praeficae	praeficīs
Accusative	praeficam	praeficās
Ablative	praeficā	praeficīs
Vocative	praefica	praeficae

Descendants

• Italian: prefica

References

• praefica in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• praefica in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “praefica”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press