laura

name

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.”

   “'Mine's Laura'./ 'A beautiful name.'/ Laura has never liked her name. It's too old-fashioned and has, to her mind, a slightly whiny sound, like the twang of a country and western guitar. In fact she was given the name because Michelle liked the song 'Tell Laura I Love Her'.”

   “The request for a retraction centers around an October 28 segment on Laura Ingraham’s prime time show, “The Ingraham Angle.””

noun

1. (historical)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. (historical)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.”