vesica

American  

[vuh-sahy-kuh, -see-kuh, ves-i-kuh] / vəˈsaɪ kə, -ˈsi kə, ˈvɛs ɪ kə /

noun

plural

vesicae

1. Anatomy. a bladder.

2. vesica piscis.

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vesica British  

/ ˈvɛsɪkə /

noun

1. anatomy a technical name for bladder

2. (in medieval sculpture and painting) an aureole in the shape of a pointed oval

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Etymology

Origin of vesica

First recorded in 1675–85, vesica is from the Latin word vēsīca

Example Sentences

Ves′ical, of or pertaining to a vesica; Ves′icant, blistering.—n. a substance that vesicates or raises blisters.—v.t.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

Ex testiculis chorda spermatica per inguen infra cutem transit, murum abdominalem penetrat per annulum inguinalem, et sub vesica urinaria urethram juxta cervicem vesicae intrat.

From Essays In Pastoral Medicine by ?Malley, Austin

The space between the circumference and the vesica is occupied on each side by two angels, with expanded wings, those above issuing from waves, those below kneeling.

From Bell's Cathedrals: Southwark Cathedral Formerly the Collegiate Church of St. Saviour, Otherwise St. Mary Overie. A Short History and Description of the Fabric, with Some Account of the College and the See by Worley, George

The pointed oval, or vesica, is the conventionalized form of the fish.

From The Worship of the Church and The Beauty of Holiness by Regester, J. A. (Jacob Asbury)

Thus the following solution that I give to our puzzle involves the pointed "oval," known among architects as the "vesica piscis."

From Amusements in Mathematics by Dudeney, Henry Ernest