bulla
1 Americannoun
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bullae
plural
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a seal attached to an official document, as a papal bull.
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an ancient Roman pendant, consisting of a rounded box containing an amulet.
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Pathology. a large vesicle.
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Zoology. a blisterlike or bubblelike prominence of a bone, as that of the tympanic bone in the skull of certain mammals.
noun
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bullas
plural
noun
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a leaden seal affixed to a papal bull, having a representation of Saints Peter and Paul on one side and the name of the reigning pope on the other
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an ancient Roman rounded metal or leather box containing an amulet, worn around the neck
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pathol another word for blister
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anatomy a rounded bony projection
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bulla
1840–50; < Latin: bubble, also stud, boss, knob (whence Medieval Latin bulla official seal)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The store sold everyday goods and featured a large brick oven that was used to make its famous bulla cakes, flavorful flat pastries made with flour, ginger and molasses.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 13, 2021
In ancient times, a seal stamp, or bulla, was used to authenticate documents or items.
From Fox News ● Apr. 1, 2019
Neusser found in a pemphigus patient, whose blood shewed a considerable increase of the eosinophils, that the contents of the pemphigus bulla consisted almost entirely of eosinophil cells.
From Histology of the Blood Normal and Pathological by W. Myers
The Roman boy, on attaining the age of fifteen, put off his childish dress, and consecrated the golden bulla, which he had worn around his neck from infancy, to the domestic Lares.
From The Student's Mythology A Compendium of Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Assyrian, Persian, Hindoo, Chinese, Thibetian, Scandinavian, Celtic, Aztec, and Peruvian Mythologies by Catherine Ann White
The skull is elongated and narrow; and the auditory bulla large, elongated and rounded at both ends.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 4 "Carnegie Andrew" to "Casus Belli" by Various
In 2017, Iraq received 450 cuneiform tablets and 3,000 ancient bullae, or seals, from the Museum and Green family firm Hobby Lobby paid a $3 million fine.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 28, 2022
They included cuneiform tablets, ancient cylinder seals and clay seal impressions known as bullae.
From New York Times ● Aug. 3, 2021
They included 4,000-year-old cuneiform tablets, slivers of papyrus, cylinder seals and clay bullae — all relics from ancient Mesopotamia that showcased some of the earliest forms of written communication.
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2020
In 1986 archaeologists revealed that several lumps of figured clay called bullae, bought from Arab dealers in 1975, had once been used to mark documents.
From Time Magazine Archive
Skull: Small and not heavily ridged; zygomatic arches widely spreading but weak; zygomatic arches nearly parallel; tympanic bullae moderately inflated ventrally; palate not arched; interpterygoid space U-shaped; dentition light.
From The Pocket Gophers (Genus Thomomys) of Utah, Vol. 1 No. 1 Kansas University Publications. by Stephen D. Durrant
It is named from the Latin plural bullas, meaning the round bosses which the Romans put on their bridles.
From Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure by William Thomas Fernie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
