A female name. Latin diminutive of Prisca, the f. of the Roman cognomen Priscus (apparently the word priscus ‘former’). Priscilla is the name of a woman mentioned in Acts xviii. 2, and was a favourite with I7th-C Puritans; the earliest example noted is Precilla Stevenson 1592. Priscilla is apparently also mentioned, in non-diminutive form, as Prisca in the Epistle to Timothy, and Prisca was also sometimes used as a christian name in the 17th C, but has not survived.

The diminutive of Latin prisca, the f. of priscus, ‘olden,’ ‘ancient,’ ‘of antique time.’ It is going out of fashion; has been so going since the late C19. Its heyday was in C17, chiefly among the Puritans, who revered the memory of Priscilla, ‘a noble Roman matron ... grandmother of SS. Praxedes and Pudentiana... (and) the hostess in Rome of St. Peter the Apostle, by whom she had been converted to Christianity’ (Benedictines).

This name must have been formed from a word priscilla, which would signify ‘somewhat old,’ a diminutive ofthe Latin priscus, old, ancient. Mr. Arthur translates Priscilla ‘little ancient dame.’ The name shows the tyranny of godfathers and godmothers.

Pris-sil'-lah, ancient. A Christian woman, who with her husband was at Corinth when Paul came thither, and had the honour of entertaining him. Acts xviii. 1, 2, &c.

Meaning: httle old woman (diminutive of Pris'ca).

A Latin name, meaning: Ancient: indicating long life.