‖ verruca
(vɛˈruːkə)
Pl. verrucæ (vɛˈruːsiː).
[L. verrūca wart, excrescence on precious stones. Cf. It. verruca, Prov. veruca.]
a. A wart. b. Bot., Conch., Ent. A wart-like formation, growth, or prominence.
The pl. appears as veruce in Lanfranc's Cirurg. (E.E.T.S.) 296–7.
| a. 1565 J. Hall Lanfrank's Cirurg. Table 41 Galen (rekening it with Veruca,..and other lyke affectes of the skinne,) teacheth how with a holowe quille to plucke it out. [1671 Salmon Syn. Med. i. xlviii. 115 Verruca, a Wart, is a little tubercle on the Skin. 1693 tr. Blancard's Phys. Dict. (ed. 2), Verrucæ, Warts, a sort of Tubercula.] 1770 Pennant Zool. IV. 85 On the chin [of the Noctule bat is] a little verruca. 1876 Duhring Dis. Skin 349 Verruca is a hard or soft, rounded, flat, or acuminated, circumscribed, papillary formation. a 1883 Fagge Princ. & Pract. Med. (1886) II. 718 Warts.—Verrucæ, papillomata.—These are small cutaneous tumours consisting in overgrowth of the papillæ of the cutis. |
| b. 1822 J. Parkinson Outl. Oryctol. 118 The upper parts of all the areas [of Echinus pentagonus] are remarkably bare; but, about the rounded margin, the verrucæ..become frequent. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. IV. xlvi. 273 Verruca, a small flattish wart-like prominence. 1861 Bentley Man. Bot. i. 51 When sessile glands consist of cells containing solid secretions so that they form hardened spherical or other appendages upon the surface of the epidermis, they are termed verrucæ or warts. |