cosca
{{Short description|Sicilian Mafia crime family}}
{{for|the village of Coşca in Vaslui County|Ivăneşti}}
{{for|the government agency in the Thousand Oaks area of California|Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency}}
{{for|the organization of judicial officials|Conference of State Court Administrators}}
A cosca ({{IPA|it|ˈkɔska|lang}}; pl. cosche in Italian and coschi in Sicilian), in Sicily, is a clan or Sicilian Mafia crime family led by a capo.
The equivalent in the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria is the 'ndrina.
Etymology
A cosca is the crown of spiny, closely folded leaves on plants such as the artichoke or the thistle, which symbolizes the tightness of relationships between mafiosi.{{Cite web|url=http://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/cosca/|title = Còsca in Vocabolario - Treccani}}
References
- Blok, Anton (1974/1988). The Mafia of a Sicilian village 1860-1960. A study of violent peasant entrepreneurs, Long Grove (IL): Waveland Press. {{ISBN|0-88133-325-5}}.
- Dickie, John (2004). [http://www.madaboutbooks.com/CosaNostra/aboutTheBook.htm Cosa Nostra. A history of the Sicilian Mafia], London: Coronet. {{ISBN|978-0-340-82435-1}}.
- Servadio, Gaia (1976). Mafioso. A history of the Mafia from its origins to the present day, London: Secker & Warburg. {{ISBN|0-8128-2101-7}}.