Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A small crescent-shaped structure or marking, especially the white area at the base of a fingernail that resembles a half-moon.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In entomology, a small depression on the frons of a dipterous insect.
- noun Something which is shaped like a little moon or narrow crescent; a lunule or lunulet.
- noun Specifically— The free crescentic edge and adjoining thin part of a semilunar valve of the heart.
- noun The small white semilunar mark at the base of the human fingernails.
- noun A crescentic impression on some bivalve shells; a lunule.
- noun A small semicircular or crescentic spot of color; a lunulet.
- noun [capitalized] A generic name given by Hitchcock to ichnolites of uncertain character.
- noun In mathematics, a lune.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Anat. & Zoöl.) Same as
lunule .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Something shaped like a
crescent orhalf-moon ; especially the pale area at the base of thefingernail .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a crescent-shaped metal ornament of the Bronze Age
- noun the crescent-shaped area at the base of the human fingernail
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Near the root of the nail, the papillæ are smaller, less vascular, and have no regular arrangement, and here the tissue of the nail is not firmly adherent to the connective-tissue stratum but only in contact with it; hence this portion is of a whiter color, and is called the lunula on account of its shape.
X. The Organs of the Senses and the Common Integument. 2. The Common Integument 1918
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Instead, the safe held cosmetics and an envelope with a Bronze Age gold necklace in the shape of a crescent moon known as a lunula and two gold discs.
The Money Times Pankaj Damin 2010
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The whitish crescent moon at the nail base, under the nail plate, is called the lunula, and the tissue overlapping the nail at the base is the cuticle.
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The whitish crescent moon at the nail base, under the nail plate, is called the lunula, and the tissue overlapping the nail at the base is the cuticle.
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A long, simple, sleeved tunic bordered with a purple stripe was the standard uniform for both freeborn boys and girls in Rome, and a protective neck chain called a bulla in the case of boys and a moon-shaped lunula for girls the moon being the symbol of Diana, the Roman goddess of chastity their only adornment.
Caesars’ Wives Annelise Freisenbruch 2010
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• The lunula: The whitish, half-moon shape at the base of your nail underneath the plate.
You Being Beautiful Michael F. Roizen 2008
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• The lunula: The whitish, half-moon shape at the base of your nail underneath the plate.
You Being Beautiful Michael F. Roizen 2008
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The lunula is overlapped by the cuticle, which protects those keratin cells.
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Clipeus erat vacuus, in quo olim fuisse dicebant laminam æream, et eius in ea itidem cælata insignia, Leonem videlicet argenteum, cui ad pectus lunula rubea in campo cæruleo, quem Limbus ambiret denticulatus ex auro.
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Near the root is a little crescentric-shaped white portion called the lunula.
qms commented on the word lunula
You see every month a moon-full sky
And know that light will too soon die.
But the gibbous orb lingers
On each of your fingers
Where never will wane your lunulae.
August 27, 2014
qroqqa commented on the word lunula
If looking at the moon you're me,
Inspired to rhyme, soon you see
There's a need for defending
The long vowels ending
Borrowed words like 'lunulae'.
August 28, 2014
qms commented on the word lunula
On balmy nights down Jamaica way
They sip their rum and play reggae,
And give not a thought
As to how one ought
Pronounce such words as lunulae.
August 28, 2014