Lucus
Sign in to saveIn ancient Roman religion, a lucus (, plural lucī) is a sacred grove.
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- To clear a clearing
- Festival of the grove
- Sacred groves of the Roman Empire
- See also
- References
In ancient Roman religion, a lucus (, plural lucī) is a sacred grove.
was one of four Latin words meaning in general "forest, woodland, grove" (along with , , and ), but unlike the others it was primarily used as a religious designation, meaning "sacred grove". Servius defines the lucus as "a large number of trees with a religious significance," as distinguished from the silva, a natural forest, and a nemus, an arboretum that is not consecrated. A usually implied a wilderness area with varied topographical features.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Lucus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.