carbuncle
English
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English carbuncle, charbocle, from Old French carbuncle, charbuncle, from Latin carbunculus (“a small coal; a reddish kind of precious stone; a kind of tumor”), diminutive of carbō (“a coal, charcoal”).
Pronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɑː.bʌŋ.kl̩/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkɑɹˌbʌŋ.kl̩/
Audio (US): (file)
Noun
editcarbuncle (plural carbuncles)
- (archaic) A deep-red or fiery colored garnet or other dark red precious stone, especially when cut cabochon.
- 1602, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act II, scene 2, line 401:
- With eyes like carbuncles, the hellish Pyrrhus […]
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 54:12:
- And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
- 1634, Thomas Herbert, A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626. Into Afrique and the Greater Asia, especially the Territories of the Persian Monarchie: And some Parts of the Orientall Indies, and Iles Adiacent. Of their Religion, Language, Habit, Discent, Ceremonies, and other Matters Concerning Them: Together with the Proceedings and Death of the Three Late Ambassadours: Sir D. C[otton] Sir R. S[herley] and the Persian Nogdi-Beg: As also the Two Great Monarchs, the King of Persia, and the Great Mogol, London: William Stansby for Iacob Bloome, →OCLC; republished as William Foster, editor, Travels in Persia 1627–1629. Abridged and Edited by Sir William Foster [...] with an Introduction and Notes (Broadway Travellers), London: G. Routledge & Sons, 1928, →OCLC, page 79:
- His turban, or mandil [mandīl], was of finest white silk interwoven with gold, bestudded with pearl[s] and carbuncles; […]
- 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 155:
- A piece of marigold or bay leaf was imbedded in the metal, and over it a carbuncle or chrysolite was placed.
- (heraldry) A charge or bearing supposed to represent the precious stone, with eight sceptres or staves radiating from a common centre; an escarbuncle.
- (pathology) An abscess larger than a boil, usually with one or more openings draining pus onto the skin. It is usually caused by staphylococcal infection.
- An unpopular or ugly building; an eyesore.
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
editprecious stone
|
abscess
|
See also
editReferences
edit- “carbuncle”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “carbuncle”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
Middle English
editAlternative forms
edit- carboncle, carbuncul, charbocle, charbokel, charbouncle, charbucle, charbukel, charbuncle, charbunkel
Etymology
editBorrowed from Old French carbuncle, charbuncle, itself borrowed from Latin carbunculus.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editcarbuncle (plural carbuncles)
- A carbuncle (garnet or other precious stone)
- 14th c. Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales. The Tale of Sir Thopas: 179-81.
- His sheeld was al of gold so reed,
And ther-inne was a bores heed,- A charbocle bisyde;
- 14th c. Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales. The Tale of Sir Thopas: 179-81.
- Material similar to carbuncle.
- (pathology) A carbuncle; a large abscess.
Descendants
edit- English: carbuncle
References
edit- “carbuncle, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Old French
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Latin carbunculus.
Noun
editcarbuncle oblique singular, m (oblique plural carbuncles, nominative singular carbuncles, nominative plural carbuncle)
- carbuncle (deep-red or fiery colored garnet or other dark red precious stone)
Descendants
edit- → Middle English: carbuncle
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with archaic senses
- English terms with quotations
- en:Heraldic charges
- en:Pathology
- Middle English terms borrowed from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from Latin
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Middle English terms with quotations
- enm:Pathology
- enm:Gems
- Old French terms borrowed from Latin
- Old French terms derived from Latin
- Old French lemmas
- Old French nouns
- Old French masculine nouns