Lucy

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | 643 words | Copyright

Lucy female forename. St Lucy (d. 304) was a virgin and martyr, who died at Syracuse in the persecution of Diocletian; her eyes, reputed to have been put out and miraculously restored, are her usual emblem. Her feast day, 13 December, was the shortest day of the year according to the Julian calendar. Especially in Sweden, St Lucy's day is associated with a festival of light.

Lucy is also the nickname given to a partial female skeleton of a fossil hominid found in Ethiopia in 1974, about 3.2 million years old and 1.2 m (4 ft) in height. This species is regarded by many as the ancestor of all subsequent Australopithecus and Homo species.

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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Lucy." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Lucy." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Lucy.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Lucy." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Lucy.html

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