Definition of "loculus" [loc•u•lus]

• Variant of locule. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It was then placed on a stone shelf or in a niche known as a loculus carved into the bedrock wall of the tomb."
• "A triple-coffin is constructed for the occupant of each loculus: a wooden box for the body is fully sealed inside a lead coffin (a plumber usually deals with the metalwork) and then placed inside a larger, decorative coffin."
• "But finding a skeleton still laid out in a loculus and wrapped in its burial shroud was a first."