perula

English

Etymology

From Latin pērula, diminutive of pera (“wallet”), from Ancient Greek [Term?]. Compare French pérule.

Noun

perula (plural perulae)

1. (botany) One of the scales of a leaf bud.
2. (botany) A pouchlike portion of the perianth in certain orchids.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “perula”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

• epural, pleura

Latin

Etymology 1

The diminutive form of pēra (“a bag”, “a wallet”), formed as pēra +‎ -ula (suffix forming feminine diminutives).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈpeː.ru.la/, [ˈpeːrʊɫ̪ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpe.ru.la/, [ˈpɛːrulä]

Noun

pērula f (genitive pērulae); first declension

1. a little wallet, a pocket
   1. in literal use
   2. (transferred sense, comical) a tumescent womb or paunch

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	pērula	pērulae
Genitive	pērulae	pērulārum
Dative	pērulae	pērulīs
Accusative	pērulam	pērulās
Ablative	pērulā	pērulīs
Vocative	pērula	pērulae

References

• “pērŭla”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Etymology 2

From pirum (“a pear”).

Alternative forms

• perla, perna, pella

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈpe.ru.la/, [ˈpɛrʊɫ̪ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpe.ru.la/, [ˈpɛːrulä]

Noun

perula f (genitive perulae); first declension

1. (Medieval Latin) pearl (shelly concretion, usually found in oysters, and often valued in a manner akin to semi-precious gems)
   • 1272, an unknown source in The Natural History of Precious Stones and of the Precious Metals (1867), viii, page 269:

     Una Perla ad modum camahuti.

     A pearl in the manner of a cameo.

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	perula	perulae
Genitive	perulae	perulārum
Dative	perulae	perulīs
Accusative	perulam	perulās
Ablative	perulā	perulīs
Vocative	perula	perulae

Synonyms

• (pearl): margarīta (Classical)

References

• “perula”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• perula 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)
• perula in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Jan Frederik Niermeyer, Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus : Lexique Latin Médiéval–Français/Anglais : A Medieval Latin–French/English Dictionary, fascicle I (1976), page 794/2, “perula”