‖ vesicula
(vɪˈsɪkjʊlə)
Pl. vesiculæ (-jʊliː).
[L. vēsīcula a little blister, a vesicle, dim. of vēsīca vesica.]
1. = vesicle 1. Usually in pl.
In Anat. also with defining terms, as vesiculæ seminales.
| a. Anat. 1715 Cheyne Princ. Relig. i. iii. §12 (ed. 2) 134 Spiral Threads, which divide these hollow Fibrils into so many elastick Cystes and Vesiculæ. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Lungs, A Stone-Cutter, the Vesiculæ of whose Lungs were..stuffed with Dust. 1771 Encycl. Brit. I. 282/2 The thoracic duct..terminates in some subjects by a kind of vesicula. 1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 380/2 (Bladder), Towards the vesiculæ it [the cellular coat] is dense and white, and supports a number of veins. 1849–52 Ibid. IV. ii. 1431/1 The difficulty of proving the identity of sacs called vesiculæ in other animals. |
| b. Bot. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Vegetation, These Seed-Leaves consist of a great Number of little Vesiculæ, or Bladders. 1832 Lindley Introd. Bot. 207 Vesiculæ, inflations of the thallus, filled with air, by means of which the plants are enabled to float. |
| c. Physics. 1713 Derham Phys.-Theol. i. iii. 22 note, Vapours being..no other than inflated Vesiculæ of Water. |
2. Path. = vesicle 3.
| 1876 Duhring Dis. Skin 43 Vesiculæ are circumscribed, rounded elevations of the epidermis. varying in size from a pin-point to a split-pea, containing a clear serous fluid. |