macula

See also: Macula and mácula

Translingual

Etymology

Latin macula

Noun

macula

1. (geography, planetography, astronomy) A type of albedo feature on the surface of celestial bodies, a darkened region.

Antonyms

• nix (bright region)

Hypernyms

• regio (region)

English

Illustration showing parts of the human eye, including the macula.

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmæk.jᵿ.lə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmæk.jə.lə/
• Hyphenation: mac‧u‧la

Noun

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.

Derived terms

• hemimacula
• lagenar macula
• macular
• maculopathy

Related terms

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

Translations

anatomy: yellow spot near the center of retina

• Catalan: màcula (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 黃斑 / 黄斑 (zh) (huángbān)

• Czech: žlutá skvrna f
• Dutch: gele vlek m or f, macula (nl) f
• Finnish: keltatäplä
• French: macula (fr) f, macula lutea f
• German: Gelber Fleck m, Makula f
• Greek: ωχρή κηλίδα f (ochrí kilída)
• Ido: makulo (io)
• Italian: macula (it) f
• Japanese: 黄斑 (ja) (おうはん, ōhan)
• Persian: لکهٔ زرد (fa) (lakke-ye zard)
• Polish: plamka żółta f
• Portuguese: mácula (pt) f
• Russian: жёлтое пятно́ n (žóltoje pjatnó), ма́кула (ru) f (mákula)
• Swedish: gul fläck c

spot

• Bulgarian: петно (bg) n (petno)
• Finnish: täplä (fi); pilkku (fi) (in the sun)
• Ido: makulo (io)
• Polish: plamka (pl) f
• Portuguese: mácula (pt) f, mancha (pt) f

large blot or splotch

• Bulgarian: петно (bg) n (petno)
• Finnish: läiskä (fi), läikkä (fi)
• Italian: macula (it) f
• Polish: plama (pl) f, skaza (pl) f
• Portuguese: mancha (pt) f

planetary geology: dark area on the surface of planet or moon

• Finnish: pilkku (fi), täplä (fi), alue (fi) (depending on relative size)
• Polish: plama (pl) f

Further reading

• macula on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “macula”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “macula”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “macula”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Catalan

Verb

macula

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

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Verb

macula

1. third-person singular past historic of maculer

Italian

Alternative forms

• macola

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

macula f (plural macule)

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

Synonyms

• (stain, blot): macchia

Related terms

• maculopatia

Further reading

• macula on the Italian Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^it
• “macula”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Anagrams

• caluma, lumaca

Latin

Alternative forms

• (Medieval Latin) macla

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *smeH-

Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr

Proto-Indo-European *-om

Proto-Indo-European *-trom

Proto-Indo-European *-tlóm

Proto-Indo-European *sm̥Htlóm

Proto-Italic *smaklomder.

Latin macula

Derived from Proto-Italic *smaklom, from Proto-Indo-European *sm̥H-tló-m, from a root *smeH- (“to wipe”). Perhaps related to Ancient Greek σμᾰ́ω (smắō, “to wipe clean, cleanse”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	macula	maculae
genitive	maculae	maculārum
dative	maculae	maculīs
accusative	maculam	maculās
ablative	maculā	maculīs
vocative	macula	maculae

Derived terms

• Macula (cognomen)
• maculō
• maculōsus
• maculātūra

Descendants

Through Vulgar Latin *macla:

• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Corsican: machja, macchja (see there for further descendants)
  • Istriot: màcia
  • Italian: macchia
  • Neapolitan: macchia
  • Sicilian: macchia
  • Venetan: macia
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Friulian: magle
  • Ladin: macia, tacia
  • Romansh: macla, machel
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Emilian: macia, ⇒ smacia
  • Ligurian: màccia
    • →? Sardinian: màcia
  • Lombard: màcia, màgia, ⇒ smàgia
  • Piedmontese: macia
  • Romagnol: macia
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Northern:
    • Franco-Provençal: mâlye
    • Old French: maille (see there for further descendants)
  • Southern:
    • Catalan: malla
    • Occitan: malha
      • → Italian: maglia
      • → Sicilian: magghia
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: malla
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: malla (“stain”)
    • Galician: malla
    • Portuguese: malha
• ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *mancla (see there for further descendants)

Borrowings:

• → Asturian: macla (semi-learned)
• → Catalan: màcula
• → Dutch: macula
  • → Indonesian: makula
• → Esperanto: makulo
  • → Ido: makulo
• → Finnish: makula
• → Galician: mácula, mágoa (semi-learned)
• → Hungarian: makula
• → Italian: macula
• → Middle English: macula, macule
  • English: macula
• → Middle French: macule
  • French: macule
  • → Middle English: macule
    • English: macule
• → Occitan: macula
• → Old High German: makel
  • German: Makel
• → Old Irish: mocoll
  • Irish: mogall
• → Portuguese: mácula, mágoa (semi-learned)
• → Proto-Brythonic: *magl
  • Old Breton: maclou
  • Cornish: magel
  • Middle Welsh: magl
    • Welsh: magl
• → Russian: макула (makula)
• → Serbo-Croatian: màkula / ма̀кула
• → Sicilian: màcula
• → Slovak: machuľa
• → Spanish: mácula, mangla (semi-learned)
  • → Portuguese: mangra
• → Translingual: macula

Further reading

• “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, 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

Middle English

Alternative forms

• macule

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin macula. Doublet of mayle.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmakiu̯laː/

Noun

macula (plural maculas)

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

Descendants

• English: macula

References

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

Portuguese

Verb

macula

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

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *smeH-

Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr

Proto-Indo-European *-om

Proto-Indo-European *-trom

Proto-Indo-European *-tlóm

Proto-Indo-European *sm̥Htlóm

Proto-Italic *smaklomder.

Latin macula

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin maculārelbor.

French maculerbor.

Romanian macula

Learned borrowing from Latin maculāre, or borrowed from French maculer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.kuˈla/

Verb

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

1. to mark, to spoil

Conjugation

    conjugation of macula (first conjugation, -ez- infix)

infinitive			a macula
gerund			maculând
past participle			maculat
number		singular			plural
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	maculez	maculezi	maculează	maculăm	maculați	maculează
	imperfect	maculam	maculai	macula	maculam	maculați	maculau
	simple perfect	maculai	maculași	maculă	macularăm	macularăți	maculară
	pluperfect	maculasem	maculaseși	maculase	maculaserăm	maculaserăți	maculaseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	să maculez	să maculezi	să maculeze	să maculăm	să maculați	să maculeze
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		maculează			maculați
	negative		nu macula			nu maculați

Further reading

• “macula”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Spanish

Verb

macula

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