testicle
(ˈtɛstɪk(ə)l)
Also 5 testicule.
[ad. L. testiculus, dim. f. testis testis2: see -cule. Cf. F. testicule, Sp., Pg. testiculo, It. testicolo.]
Each of the two ellipsoid glandular bodies, constituting the sperm-secreting organs in male mammals, and usually enclosed in a scrotum; = testis2 1 a.
| c 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 14 His testicules war bolned out of mesure. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 21 b/1 This swellinge..of the testicles. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iii. iv. 112 That a Bever to escape the Hunter, bites off his testicles or stones, is a tenent very ancient. 1783 Justamond tr. Raynal's Hist. Indies I. 307 It is very certain, and has often been observed that the Hottentot men have but one testicle. 1876 J. S. Bristowe The. & Pract. Med. (1878) 171 (Small-pox) Inflammation of the ovary or testicle is occasionally observed. |
b. Rarely applied to the corresponding organs in non-mammals: see testis2 1 b.
| [1634 R. H. Salerne's Regiment 36 Testicles or Stones, and especially stones of fatte Cockes..be very good and great nourishers.] 1713 J. Warder True Amazons 10 [The Drone has] a large pair of Testicles, as big as great Pins Heads. 1841–71 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4) 282 Both the ovary and testicle are evidently temporary organs. 1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. vii. 389 The testicle is an elongated sac which lies on the ventral aspect of the intestine. |
† c. transf. The ovary in females. Obs.
| 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde i. (1634) 69 The right stone or testicle in a Woman. 1684 tr. Bonet's Merc. Compit. x. 364 The Womb with its Ligaments and the Testicles may hurt the Loins. 1691 Ray Creation ii. (1692) 66 Membranes..capable of a prodigious extension, as we see in the Hydatides of the female Testicles or Ovaries. |
† d. pl. An old name for an orchid, from the form of the tubers: in quot. app. applied to Spiranthes autumnalis. Obs.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. cii. 169 The first is called..in English sweete smelling Testicles or Stones. |
e. attrib. and Comb.
| 1880 Günther Fishes 157 In the European species of Serranus a testicle-like body is attached to the lower part of the ovary. 1899 J. Cagney tr. Jaksch's Clin. Diagn. ix. (ed. 4) 424 Finely granular testicle-cells. |