Pl. vesiculæ. [L. vēsīcula a little blister, a vesicle, dim. of vēsīca VESICA.]
1. = VESICLE 1. Usually in pl.
In Anat. also with defining terms, as vesiculæ seminales.
a. Anat. 1715. Cheyne, Princ. Relig., I. iii. § 12 (ed. 2), 134. Spiral Threads, which divide these hollow Fibrils into so many elastick Cystes or Vesiculæ.
1728. Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Lungs, A Stone-Cutter, the Vesiculæ of whose Lungs were … stuffed with Dust.
1771. Encycl. Brit., I. 282/2. The thoracic duct … terminates in some subjects by a kind of vesicula.
1835–6. Todd’s Cycl. Anat., I. 380/2. (Bladder), Towards the vesiculæ it [the cellular coat] is dense and white, and supports a number of veins. Ibid. (1849–53), IV. II. 1431/1. The difficulty of proving the identity of sacs called vesiculæ in other animals.
b. Bot. 1728. Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Vegetation, These Seed-Leaves consist of a great Number of little Vesiculæ, or Bladders.
1832. Lindley, Introd. Bot., 207. Vesiculæ, inflations of the thallus, filled with air, by means of which the plants are enabled to float.
c. Physics. 1713. Derham, Phys.-Theol., I. iii. 22, note. Vapours being … no other than inflated Vesiculæ of Water.
2. Path. = VESICLE 3.
1876. Duhring, Dis. Skin, 43. Vesiculæ are circumscribed, rounded elevations of the epidermis, varying in size from a pin-point to a split-pea, containing a clear serous fluid.
