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Laura

proper noun

  1. female given name
L480766 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /lɑːɹə/ / /lɔːɹə/ / /ˈlɔːɹə/ / /ˈlɔɹə/

name

Etymology: From Late Latin saint's name Laura, from the feminine form of laurus (“laurel tree”). A post-classical name made famous by Petrarch's sonnets to Laura in the fourteenth century.

  1. A female given name from Latin.

    Now is he for the numbers that Petrarch flowed in; Laura to his lady was but a kitchen-wench; marry, she had a better love to be-rime her;

    Laura was saying something. A mellifluous name, he thought. I wish she were far away, so I could call her.

noun

Etymology: From the Late Latin laura, from Ancient Greek λαύρα (laúra, “lane, path”).

  1. A number of hermitages or cells in the same neighborhood occupied by anchorites who were under the same superior

    The solitaries of the Thebaid found that they became selfish wild beasts, or went mad, if they remained alone; and they formed themselves into lauras, 'lanes' of huts, convents, under a common abbot or father.

  2. A cluster of cells or caves for hermits, with a church and sometimes a refectory at the centre.

    There were the cenobia, or monasteries proper, where the life was according to the lines laid down by St Basil; and there were the lauras, wherein a semi-eremitical life was followed, the monks living in separate huts within the enclosure.