‖ vulva
(ˈvʌlvə)
[L. vulva (volva), wrapper, uterus. Cf. It., Sp., Pg. vulva, F. vulve.]
1. Anat. The external organ of generation in the female; esp. the opening or orifice of that organ.
| 1548–77 Vicary Anat. ix. (1888) 77 By it goeth forth the vrin, or els it should be shed through out al the Vulua. 1615 Crooke Body of Man iv. xvi. (1631) 237 The last dissimilar part of the womb [is called] of some Vulva. 1694 Salmon Bate's Dispens. (1713) 708/1 Anoint the Vulva and Womb with this Mixture. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. 1831 R. Knox Cloquet's Anat. 355 It is formed of two planes of fibres, which..are interlaced, between the anus and vulva. 1841 Ramsbotham Obstetr. Med. 53 The whole of the external parts together, as well those that are lined by mucous membrane, as those covered by the common cuticle, are called the vulva. 1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. vi. 274 Anteriorly, each pair of tubes opens into the oviduct of its side, which passes down along the side of the body to terminate at the vulva. |
2. Conch. The impression behind the umbones of Venus-shells.
| 1840 Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 379 The ligament often leaves, behind the beaks, an elliptical impression, to which the term vulva has been applied. |
Hence ˈvulval, ˈvulvar adjs., of or belonging to the vulva.
| 1859 Todd's Cycl. Anat. V. 706/1 From the centre of the vulvar orifice to the end of the fornix. 1866 J. M. Sims Uterine Surg. 328 The whole vulval or outer face of the hymen is sensitive. 1889 Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. VII. 694/1 Such irritation may lead to excoriation of the vulvar mucous membrane. |