[L. lōrīca, f. lōrum strap.]
1. Rom. Antiq. A cuirass or corslet of leather.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Lorica, a Coat of Mail, a piece of Armour worn in old Times.
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), X. 295. The Roman lorica was made like a shirt.
1840. Fosbrooke, Encycl. Antiq., 858. At the time of Trajan, the lorica was shortened, being cut straight round above the hips.
† 2. The coping or protecting head of a wall.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Lorica,… the Coping or Head of a Wall, made to cast off the Rain.
3. Old Chem. A kind of lute or paste with which vessels were coated before being subjected to heat.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., Lorica, a name given … to a peculiar lute made for the coating over vessels, which are to bear a very vehement fire.
1855. in Ogilvie, Suppl.
4. Zool. The protective case or sheath of some infusorians and rotifers; also applied to the carapace of crustaceans.
1856–8. W. Clark, Van der Hoeven’s Zool., I. 46. Animalcules enclosed in a membranous lorica or calcareous test.
1870. Nicholson, Man. Zool., I. 301. Lorica, the protective case with which certain Infusoria are provided.
1896. Hartog, Rotifers (Camb. Nat. Hist.), 205. The cuticle … in the Loricata firm and of definite shape, constituting a lorica.
5. Bot. The integument or hard external casing of vegetable seeds.
1839. Lindley, Introd. Bot. (ed. 3), 244. The testa, called also lorica by Mirbel.
