Scotia
SCOTIA (Gr. cr/cona, shadow or darkness), in architecture, a concave moulding most commonly used in bases, which projects a deep shadow on itself, and is thereby a most effective moulding under the eye, as in a base. (See MOULDING.)
1 In the former case the derivation seems to be from the O. Fr. Escoute, and that from the Latin auscultate, but in the latter from the Dutch Koet, which is said to be of Celtic extraction cwtiar. The Fr. macreuse, possibly from Lat. macer, indicating a bird that may be eaten in Lent or on the fast days of the Roman Church, is of double signification, meaning in the south of France a coot and in the north a scoter. By the wild-fowlers of parts of North America scoters are commonly called coots.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
