[-puhl-ee, -pool-ee] . < Neo-Latin, Latin, equivalent to amphor(a) amphora + -la diminutive suffix, with normal vowel reduction and Greek ph rendered as p
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
:10
:09
:08
:07
:06
:05
:04
:03
:02
:01
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
Cite This Source
ampulla am·pul·la (ām-p&oobreve;l'ə, -pŭl'ə)
n. pl. am·pul·lae (-p&oobreve;l'ē, -pŭl'ē)
A dilated portion of a canal or duct, as in the semicircular canal of the ear.
am·pul'lar adj.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
ampullae
a small narrow-necked, round-bodied vase for holding liquids, especially oil and perfumes. It was used in the ancient Mediterranean for toilet purposes and for anointing the bodies of the dead, being then buried with them. In early medieval times in Europe, ampullae were used in anointing kings. Both the name and the function of the ampulla have survived in Western Christianity, where it still designates the vessel containing the oil (chrism) consecrated by the bishop for ritual uses, especially in the sacraments of confirmation, orders, and extreme unction. It is used in the British coronation ceremony and is cited repeatedly by name in the coronation service; the ampulla of the regalia of the United Kingdom takes the form of a golden eagle with outspread wings. Perhaps the most celebrated ampulla in history was that known as la sainte ampoule ("the holy ampulla"), at Reims, from which the kings of France were anointed (legend said that it was brought from heaven by a dove for the coronation of Clovis); this ampulla was destroyed during the French Revolution.
Learn more about ampullae with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Cite This Source