bulla

[boo l-uh, buhl-uh]

See more synonyms for bulla on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural bul·lae

[boo l-ee, buhl-ee] /ˈbʊl i, ˈbʌl i/.

a seal attached to an official document, as a papal bull.
an ancient Roman pendant, consisting of a rounded box containing an amulet.
Pathology. a large vesicle.

Zoology. a blisterlike or bubblelike prominence of a bone, as that of the tympanic bone in the skull of certain mammals.

Origin of bulla

1840–50; < Latin: bubble, also stud, boss, knob (whence Medieval Latin bulla official seal)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for bullae

abscess, sore, welt, ulcer, cyst, pimple, carbuncle, wale, weal, sac, bubble, burn, vesicle, canker, boil, blain, vesication, furuncle, bleb, pustule

Examples from the Web for bullae

Historical Examples of bullae

Most of these characters have to do with degree of inflation of the bullae.
American Weasels
E. Raymond Hall
The bullae are less inflated even than in the mink, subgenus Lutreola.
American Weasels
E. Raymond Hall
The bullae are, therefore, relative to the basilar length, longer in primulina.
American Weasels
E. Raymond Hall
Otherwise, the bullae agree with those of the type specimen.
American Weasels
E. Raymond Hall
Specimens from five miles south of Cotopaxi also have the bullae more flattened ventrally.
Geographic Variation in the Pocket Gopher, Thomys bottae, in Colorado
Phillip M. Youngman

British Dictionary definitions for bullae

bulla

noun plural -lae (-liː)

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
an ancient Roman rounded metal or leather box containing an amulet, worn around the neck
pathol another word for blister (def. 1)
anatomy a rounded bony projection

Word Origin for bulla

C19: from Latin: round object, bubble

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bullae

bulla

1876, from Latin bulla (plural bullae), literally "bubble" (see bull (n.2)).

bullae in Medicine

bulla

[bul′ə]

n. pl. bul•lae (bul′ē)

A large blister or vesicle of pathological origin.
A bubblelike structure.