car·bun·cle   (kär'bŭng'kəl)    n.   A painful localized bacterial infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissue that usually has several openings through which pus is discharged. A deep-red garnet, unfaceted and convex. Obsolete A red precious stone. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin carbunculus, small glowing ember, carbuncle, diminutive of carbō, carbōn-, coal; see ker-3 in Indo-European roots.] car'bun'cled adj., car·bun'cu·lar (-kyə-lər) adj.

Carbuncle

Car"bun*cle\, n. [L. carbunculus a little coal, a bright kind of precious stone, a kind of tumor, dim. of carbo coal: cf. F. carboncle. See Carbon.]

1. (Min.) A beautiful gem of a deep red color (with a mixture of scarlet) called by the Greeks anthrax; found in the East Indies. When held up to the sun, it loses its deep tinge, and becomes of the color of burning coal. The name belongs for the most part to ruby sapphire, though it has been also given to red spinel and garnet.

2. (Med.) A very painful acute local inflammation of the subcutaneous tissue, esp. of the trunk or back of the neck, characterized by brawny hardness of the affected parts, sloughing of the skin and deeper tissues, and marked constitutional depression. It differs from a boil in size, tendency to spread, and the absence of a central core, and is frequently fatal. It is also called anthrax.

3. (Her.) A charge or bearing supposed to represent the precious stone. It has eight scepters or staves radiating from a common center. Called also escarbuncle.

carbuncle 

Main Entry: car·bun·cle
Pronunciation: 'kär-"b&[ng]-k&l
Function: noun
: a painful local purulent inflammation of the skin anddeeper tissues with multiple openings for the discharge of pus and usually necrosis and sloughing of dead tissue —car·bun·cu·lar /kär-'b&[ng]-ky&-l&r/ adjective

carbuncle car·bun·cle (kär'bŭng'kəl)
n.

1. A deep-seated pyogenic infection of several contiguous hair follicles, with formation of connecting sinuses, often preceded or accompanied by fever, malaise, and prostration.
2. See anthrax.

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car·bun'cu·lar (-kyə-lər) adj.

Carbuncle

(Ex. 28:17; 39:10; Ezek. 28:13). Heb. barkath; LXX. smaragdos; Vulgate, smaragdus; Revised Version, marg., "emerald." The Hebrew word is from a root meaning "to glitter," "lighten," "flash." When held up to the sun, this gem shines like a burning coal, a dark-red glowing coal, and hence is called "carbunculus", i.e., a little coal. It was one of the jewels in the first row of the high priest's breastplate. It has been conjectured by some that the garnet is meant. In Isa. 54:12 the Hebrew word is _'ekdah_, used in the prophetic description of the glory and beauty of the mansions above. Next to the diamond it is the hardest and most costly of all precious stones.