macula

From Middle English macula (“spot on the skin or in the eye”), borrowed from Latin macula (“spot, stain”). Doublet of macchia and macule.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmækjʊlə/

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macula (plural maculas or maculae)

1. (anatomy) An oval yellow spot near the center of the retina of the human eye, histologically defined as having two or more layers of ganglion cells, responsible for detailed central vision.
2. (anatomy, biology) A small chamber of the inner ear of certain vertebrates filled with endolymph and containing an otolith.
3. A spot, as on the skin, or on the surface of the sun or of some other luminous orb.
4. A rather large spot or blotch of color.
5. In planetary geology, an unusually dark area on the surface of a planet or moon.

• (oval yellow spot near the center of the retina): macula lutea, macular

• macula on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “macula”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “macula”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “macula”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

macula

1. inflection of macular:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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macula

1. third-person singular past historic of maculer

• macola

Borrowed from Latin macula, whence also the inherited doublet macchia.

• IPA^(key): /ˈma.ku.la/
• Rhymes: -akula
• Hyphenation: mà‧cu‧la

macula f (plural macule)

1. (anatomy, astronomy, geology) macula
2. stain, blot
3. (pathology) macule blotch

• (stain, blot): macchia

• maculopatia

• macula on the Italian Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^it
• macula in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

• caluma, lumaca

• (Medieval Latin) macla

From Proto-Italic *smatlom, from Proto-Indo-European *smh₂-tló-m (“wiping (perhaps)”), from a root *smeh₂- (“to wipe”); related to Ancient Greek σμάω (smáō, “I wipe clean, cleanse”).^[1]

• macula: (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈma.kʊ.ɫa]
• macula: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmaː.ku.la]
• maculā: (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈma.kʊ.ɫaː]
• maculā: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmaː.ku.la]

macula f (genitive maculae); first declension

1. in a bad sense
   1. (literally and in general) a spot, speck, small mark or stain
      1. (literally and in particular) a disfiguring spot, stain, or blemish
         1. (on the skin) a blemish, temporary or permanent (for example, a bruise, freckle, mole, birthmark, etc.)
         2. (on a garment) a stain, an area of soiling or defilement
   2. (figuratively) a fault or blemish, a blot on one’s character
   3. (transferred sense) a mark of shame or disgrace; a stigma, brand, or blight
2. in a neutral sense
   1. any kind of marking or point of variegation; a speckle, spot, patch, line, or similar
      1. on the skin or coat of an animal
      2. on the leaves of a plant
   2. (transferred sense) a mesh in a net, a cell in a network, or a hole in a web
      1. (Medieval Latin, in particular) a cell in a coat of mail, a ring of mail armour
      2. (Medieval Latin, transferred sense) a link in a chain

First-declension noun.

• Macula (cognomen)
• maculō
• maculōsus
• maculātūra

Through Vulgar Latin *macla:

Through Vulgar Latin *mancla:

Borrowings:

• “măcŭla”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “macula”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "macula", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “măcŭla”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 935/2.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to blot out a reproach: maculam (conceptam) delere, eluere
    
  • (ambiguous) to sully one's fair fame: vitae splendori(em) maculas(is) aspergere
    
• “macula” on pages 1,058–1,059 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
• Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976), “macula, macla”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill, page 624/1

• macule

Borrowed from Latin macula. Doublet of mayle.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmakiu̯laː/

macula (plural maculas)

1. (Late Middle English, rare) A lesion on the eye or skin.

• English: macula

• “macula, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 9 July 2018.

macula

1. inflection of macular:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Borrowed from Latin maculare or French maculer.

• IPA^(key): /ma.kuˈla/

a macula (third-person singular present maculează, past participle maculat) 1st conjugation

1. to mark, to spoil

• “macula”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

macula

1. inflection of macular:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative