▪ I. utricle1
(ˈjuːtrɪk(ə)l)
[ad. F. utricule (18th c.), or L. ūtriculus utriculus1.]
1. Bot. A small sac or bladder-shaped body; a bottle-shaped part or structure.
primordial utricle: see primordial a. 4 b.
| a. 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Sap, All Male Flowers that have Utricles at the Bottom of the Petala. 1793 Martyn Lang. Bot. s.v. Vessels, Utricles, or little Bags; usually full of a green pulp. 1816 Keith Phys. Bot. I. 349 The structure of the utricles of the tree is also said to be different from that of the utricles of the herb. 1875 Darwin Insectiv. Pl. xvii. 419 The spherical glands were still white but their utricles were broken up. |
| b. 1826–34 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VII. 50/1 An utricle is a membranous, elastic pericarp. 1861 Bentley Man. Bot. 314 The Utricle is a superior, one-celled, one or few-seeded fruit. |
| c. 1849 [see primordial a. 4 b]. 1857 Henfrey Elem. Course Bot. 495 The primordial utricle is a layer of substance of a dense mucilaginous consistence.., applied intimately to the inner surface of the cell-membrane of young cells [etc.]. 1875 Bennett & Dyer Sach's Bot. 62 The hydrostatic pressure which the vacuole-fluid exercises on the protoplasm [1882 primordial] utricle. |
| d. 1858 Irvine British Pl. 240 The Carex Tribe... Fruit without hairs at the base, enclosed in a peculiar envelope (utricle). 1897 Willis Flower. Pl. II. 126 The axil of a second glume (the utricle) which closely enwraps it. |
| e. 1874 Cooke Fungi 49 After the spores have become ripe, the free point of the utricle bursts. |
| f. 1875 Darwin Insectiv. Plants xviii. 451 Found within the utricle or neck of one leaf. |
2. Anat. and
Biol. A small cell, sac, or bladder-like process.
| 1822 Good Study Med. IV. 603 Those utricles, or minute bladders of the cuticle containing a watery fluid. 1836–9 Todd Cycl. Anat. II. 413/2 Utricles floating loosely in the abdominal cavity. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 905 Microbacillus of the ‘peladic utricle’. |
b. The larger of the two sacs in the membranous labyrinth of the ear.
| 1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 239/1 The utricle, or sinus of the vestibule [in birds]. 1857 Holden Hum. Osteol. (ed. 2) 252 The utricle occupies the upper half of the vestibule. 1886 Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. II. 563/2 The vestibular membranous labyrinth is divided into sacs: (1) the oblong utricle or..common sinus [etc.]. |
3. gen. A small bladder-like body; a globule.
| 1858 Graham & Watts Elem. Chem. (ed. 2) II. 681 Vapour of sulphur, when it comes in contact with cold bodies, condenses in the form of utricles, that is to say, of globules composed of a soft external pellicle filled with liquid sulphur... This utricular condition has also been observed in selenium. |
▪ II. ˈutricle2 Anat. [ad. F. utricule, or L. utriculus utriculus2.] A small cul-de-sac in the prostatic portion of the urethra in man; the prostatic vesicle.
| 1861 Sir H. Thompson Dis. Prostate (ed. 2) 28 The Utricle..is a small sac..opening on the anterior aspect of the verumontanum. 1888 Cassell's Encycl. Dict. s.v., There is a utricle of the male urethra. |
b. In the cat: (see
quot.).
| 1881 Mivart Cat 242 A small, ridge-like prominence, called the verum montanum, in the midst of which is a narrow, slit-like depression, named the utricle. |