ranula

English

Etymology

Late Middle English, coined by French physician and surgeon Guy de Chauliac: borrowed from Latin rānula (“a little frog, a tadpole; a little swelling on the tongue of cattle”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹan.jʊl.ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹæn.jəl.ə/

Noun

ranula (plural ranulae or ranulas)

1. (pathology) A tumor or swelling located in the floor of the mouth under the tongue; specifically a bluish, domed mucocele which is associated with an obstruction of the sublingual salivary gland. [from 15th c.]

Derived terms

• ranular

Translations

Translations

• German: Froschgeschwulst f
• Ottoman Turkish: قوربغه‌جق (kurbağacık)
• Volapük: ranul

References

• “ranula”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “ranula”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• Narula, anural

Latin

Etymology

From rāna (“a frog”) +‎ -ula (diminutive suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈraː.nu.la/, [ˈräːnʊɫ̪ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈra.nu.la/, [ˈräːnulä]

Noun

rānula f (genitive rānulae); first declension

1. diminutive of rāna:
   1. (literally, Classical Latin) A little frog, a tadpole. [from 2nd c.]
   2. (transferred sense, post-classical, pathology) A little swelling on the tongue of cattle.

Inflection

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	rānula	rānulae
Genitive	rānulae	rānulārum
Dative	rānulae	rānulīs
Accusative	rānulam	rānulās
Ablative	rānulā	rānulīs
Vocative	rānula	rānulae

Descendants

• → English: ranula

References

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