The Collaborative International Dictionary
Thecla \Thec"la\, n. Any one of many species of small delicately colored butterflies belonging to Thecla and allied genera; -- called also hairstreak, and elfin.
Wikipedia
Thecla or Tecla (, Thékla) was a saint of the early Christian Church, and a reported follower of Paul the Apostle. The earliest record of her life comes from the ancient apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla. Although Church Fathers Tertullian and Jerome rejected her story, she enjoyed great popularity in the Byzantine period.
Thecla is a genus of butterflies, described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1807, belonging to the family Lycaenidae.The contained species are found in the Palaearctic.
Thecla, Tecla, or its variants (, Thékla, " God's fame") is a Greek feminine given name made famous by Saint Thecla (Thecla of Iconium), a 1st-century Christian martyr.
It may also refer to:
Usage examples of "thecla".
Some days passed before I could rid my thoughts of Thecla of certain impressions belonging to the false Thecla who had initiated me into the anacreontic diversions and fruitions of men and women.
I was the girl-child Thecla, had told me once that smilodons drink only after they have gorged themselves, and that when they have gorged and drunk they are not dangerous unless molested.
Thecla herself, who witnessed his Ekstasis, could not see for seven times seven days afterward.
Thecla the Wit-nesser, not enough light to illuminate the magnificent frescoes depicting the life of the blessed saint for which the chapel was justly famous.
Thecla herself, and glossed by an unknown hand in Arethousan—because the original text is written in the tongue of Sais, as was spoken in ancient days.
On the walls behind him she sees bold frescoes depicting the martyrdoms of the seven disciplas: Thecla, Peter, Matthias, Mark, Johanna, Lucia, and Marian.
Thecla went her rounds on the tapestries, caught forever in the cycle of her life and martyrdom, an ever-present reminder of the glory of the Word.