macula
Americannoun
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maculae
plural
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a spot or blotch, especially on one's skin; macule.
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Ophthalmology.
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an opaque spot on the cornea.
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Also called macula lutea, yellow spot. an irregularly oval, yellow-pigmented area on the central retina, containing color-sensitive rods and the central point of sharpest vision.
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noun
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a small spot or area of distinct colour, esp the macula lutea
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any small discoloured spot or blemish on the skin, such as a freckle
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maculae
plural
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A minute yellowish area located near the center of the retina of the eye, at which visual perception is most acute.
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A discolored spot on the skin that is not elevated above the surface.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of macula
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin: spot, blemish
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 disease affects the macula, a small area at the center of the retina that is essential for sharp, detailed vision.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 9, 2026
Age-related macular degeneration is a condition that gradually damages the macula, the small but vital area at the back of the eye that supports sharp central vision.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 22, 2025
According to the RNIB, Stargardt disease is an inherited eye condition that affects the macula, the central part of the retina, and causes a reduction in vision there.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2024
But mouse retinas lack the macula, a key region found in human eyes that picks out fine details, so they are not an ideal model.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 8, 2022
Coste in 1834, and its independent observation by Wharton Jones in 1835; and fourth, the observation in the same year by Rudolph Wagner of the germinal macula or nucleus.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 3 "Electrostatics" to "Engis" by Various
Figure 14.11 Linear Acceleration Coding by Maculae The maculae are specialized for sensing linear acceleration, such as when gravity acts on the tilting head, or if the head starts moving in a straight line.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
Many nevertheless possess stereoscopic vision which they get by virtue of the fact that they have two maculae ... in each eye.
From Time Magazine Archive
These become fused into crimson, slightly raised maculae, which in severe cases become further fused into red thickened patches, in which the papules can still be felt and sometimes seen.
From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Walter L. (Walter Lytle) Pyle
These are the cerebral maculae of Trousseau; and they indicate, as Dr. Browne remarks, a highly modified condition of the cutaneous vascular system.
From The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin
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.
