Bartholin's glands

/ ˈbɑːθəlɪnz /

plural noun

1. anatomy two small reddish-yellow glands, one on each side of the vaginal orifice, that secrete a mucous lubricating substance during sexual stimulation in females Compare Cowper's glands

Word History and Origins

Origin of Bartholin's glands¹

named by Caspar Bartholin (1655–1738), Danish anatomist, in honour of his father, Thomas

Example Sentences

Pull out a map to this region and you face an array of unfamiliar landmarks: Alcock’s canal, the pouch of Douglas, Bartholin’s glands, the fallopian tubes.

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These muscular contractions also favour the expulsion of a secretion, but this secretion does not contain the reproductive cells of the female, and consists merely of a mixture of indifferent secretions—the secretion of Bartholin's glands, that of the uterine mucous membrane, and that of the mucous glands of the vagina and vulva.

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They are called Bartholin's glands; occasionally they become inflamed and give a good deal of trouble.

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