‖ uvula
(ˈjuːvjʊlə)
Forms: 5–7 vuula, 6 uuula, 6–7 vvula, 7– uvula; 6 euuela, uuila, vuola, vuala.
[a. med.L. ūvula (whence Sp. and Pg. uvula, It. uvola, ugola, OF. uvule, uvele, huvele uvule), dim. of L. ūva uva.]
1. Anat. The conical fleshy prolongation hanging from the middle of the pendent margin of the soft palate in man and some other primates.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 261 Aboue þis instrument is vuula þat is þe palet of þe mouþ & helpiþ for to make soun. Ibid., Sumtyme vuula wexiþ to long. 1525 tr. Jerome of Brunswick's Surg. B ii/2 Tonge, rowfe, and vuula, y⊇ whiche is a lytell deme hangynge in y⊇ throte lyke the spynne. 1569 R. Androse Alexis' Bk. Med. iii. 33 Against the falling of the Vuola, and swelling of the Pallate. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 495 Good and ready helpes for the sorenes of the vuula which is in the Horses mouthes. c 1645 Howell Lett. ii. i. (1650) 1 The same defluxion..fell..into my throat in Oxford, and distilling upon the uvula impeached my utterance a little. 1676 Wiseman Surg. iv. vii. 333 An Elongation of the Uvula through the abundance of salivous Humour flowing upon it. 1705 Phil. Trans. XXV. 1984 The Uvula..is moved by three pair of Muscles. 1724 Ramsay Health 183 When th' uvula has got its mortal wound. 1753 Torriano Gangr. Sore Throat 4 After having examin'd her, they found the Uvula much lengthened. 1805 Med. Jrnl. XIV. 150 On inspecting the throat, the tonsils and uvula were not observably altered. 1831 R. Knox Cloquet's Anat. 597 The uvula..forms the inferior edge of the velum palati into a double arch. 1866 Huxley Physiol. vi. 146 The soft palate, or velum—the middle of which is produced into a prolongation, the uvula. 1902 Hughes & Keith Man. Pract. Anat. III. 368 The uvula is connected with each tonsil by the furrowed band, to be seen when the uvula is pulled gently aside. |
b. A small eminence forming the apex of the trigone, and projecting into the urethral orifice.
| 1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 386/1 The uvula in the child is the most depending part of the bladder. 1861 Sir. H. Thompson Dis. Prostate (ed. 2) 7 The mucous membrane and submucous tissues around the internal meatus, particularly those forming the uvula or luette vesicale. Ibid. 26 A faint whitish line directly in front of the uvula. |
c. A lobe or triangular elevation situated between the two tonsils of the cerebellum.
| 1848 Dunglison Med. Lex. (ed. 7) 887 The inferior vermiform process..consisting of three portions—the pyramid, the uvula, and the nodulus. |
† 2. ellipt. Inflammation of the uvula; uvulitis.
| 1539 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1541) 69 b, Whereby are ingendred Catarres or reumes, the uuula, the cough, and the stytche. 1570 T. Wilson Demosth. Orat., Life 133 Troubled with the Vvula being a swelling in the throte. |
3. attrib. and Comb., esp. in the names of surgical instruments for operating on the uvula, as uvula elevator, uvula scissors, uvula spoon, etc.; also uvula-cushion (see quot. 1884); uvula trill (see quot. 1908); † uvula-wort, the nettle-leaved bell-flower, Campanula Trachelium.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. ii. 366 [It] is called..in English..Throtewoort or Vuula woort, of the vertue it hath against the paine and swelling thereof. 1678 Phillips (ed. 4), Uvula-spoon..is an Instrument to be held right under the Uvula. 1710 [see uvular a. 1]. 1728 Bradley Dict. Bot. s.v., Uvula Wort; see Throat-wort. 1869 Ellis E.E. Pronunc. i. 8 R r uvula trill, F. r proven{cced}al or grasseyé. Ibid. 198 A sharp uvula rattle without any moisture. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2685/2 Uvula-scissors with claws. 1876 tr. Ziemssen's Cycl. Pract. Med. IV. 43 The instrument..called the uvula-holder. Ibid. 67 A uvula elevator. 1884 M. Mackenzie Dis. Throat & Nose II. 253 Beneath the septum the base of the uvula containing the azygos muscle forms a slight projection, called the ‘uvula-cushion’. 1895 Arnold & Sons' Catal. Surg. Instrum. p. xlv, Uvula Hook, Scissors, Twitch. 1908 Sweet Sounds of English 40 The ‘burred r’ is a uvula-trill; the uvula..is driven upwards by the force of the outgoing air [etc.]. |