auricle
(ˈɔːrɪk(ə)l)
[ad. L. auricula external ear, ear-lap, dim. of auris ear: cf. F. auricule.]
1. The external ear of animals. Formerly sometimes restricted to the lower lobe or ‘lap’ of the human ear.
| 1653 Bulwer Anthropomet. viii. 144 A certaine Nation, whose Auricles are so great, that they hang down to their shoulders..Where men had not onely hanging Eares, but broad and large Auricles. 1748 Hartley Observ. Man i. ii. §5 ¶64 The Auricle and Meatus Auditorius are cartilaginous. 1874 Roosa Dis. Ear 53 The auricle..has as its functions the reception, reflection, and condensation of the waves of sound. |
b. trans. An ‘ear’ or ear-hole.
| 1859 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. II. 300 The penitent..poured his sins through a perforated auricle into this unseen receptacle. |
2. A process shaped liked the lower lobe or ‘lap’ of the human ear; a lobe; esp. in Bot. and Conch. (Cf. auriculate.)
| 1665 Phil. Trans. I. 87 A stone..having three Auricles or crisped Angles. 1851 Richardson Geol. viii. 242 The auricles are the processes on each side of the umbones. 1861 Mrs. Lankester Wild Fl. 74 The upper leaves..embracing the stem by pointed auricles. |
3. Name of the two upper cavities of the heart, which, in mammals, birds, and reptiles, receive blood from the veins and lungs respectively. (Fishes have only one auricle.)
| 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 40 In this Cartilaginous Pericardium [of the Lamprey]..is likewise the Auricle co-included. 1748 Hartley Observ. Man i. ii. §7 ¶74 The contraction of the Auricle of the Heart. 1847 Youatt Horse xi. 239 Called auricles, from their supposed resemblance to the ear of a dog. |
4. A kind of ear-trumpet for the deaf.
| 1864 Webster cites Mansfield. |