Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A discolored spot or area on the skin that is not elevated above the surface and is characteristic of certain conditions, such as smallpox, purpura, or roseola.
- n. An opaque spot on the cornea.
- n. The macula lutea.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A spot; a blotch. Specifically
Wiktionary
- n. 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.
- n. A spot, as on the skin, or on the surface of the sun or of some other luminous orb.
- n. A rather large spot or blotch of color.
- n. In planetary geology, an unusually dark area on the surface of a planet or moon.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A spot, as on the skin, or on the surface of the sun or of some other luminous orb; called also
macule . - n. (Zoöl.) A rather large spot or blotch of color.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a small yellowish central area of the retina that is rich in cones and that mediates clear detailed vision
- n. a patch of skin that is discolored but not usually elevated; caused by various diseases
- n. a cooler darker spot appearing periodically on the sun's photosphere; associated with a strong magnetic field
Etymologies
- From Latin macula ("spot, stain"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Latin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Yellow and orange foods helps the eye (vision) the retinal macula is yellowish/orange in color so this helps Macular Degeneration, blues and red food helps the heart and circulatory conditions.”
“And right in the middle of that, the highest priced real estate, is actually something known as the macula, which is the very back of the eye.”
“The disease strikes the center of the retina, called the macula, which is especially important for reading, watching television, and recognizing faces.”
“The disease, according to the Mayo Clinic, is "marked by the deterioration of the macula, which is in the center of the retina -- the layer of tissue on the inside back wall of your eyeball.”
The Huffington Post: Charles Scott: Overcoming Obstacles With 'No Excuses'
“Wet age-related macular degeneration gradually destroys central vision by damaging the macula, which is located in the back of the eye and allows sharp vision of fine detail.”
The Wall Street Journal: Regeneron Drug Called Effective In FDA Review
“To clarify: the macula is the name of the small area on the retina that contains the greatest concentration of our photoreceptors, "macular" is the adjective.”
“It gradually destroys central vision by damaging the macula, which is located in the back of the eye and allows sharp vision of fine detail.”
“And it's this area over here called the macula that is so important.”
“The macula is a small dimple that is responsible for central vision, required for focused activities like writing, sewing, driving, and for distinguishing color.”
“The macula is a small dimple on the retina that is responsible for fine vision.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘macula’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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SCIE - neurology
abducens.....draw..., ablation.....carr..., acetylcholine......., adrenalin.....nea..., afferent.....to c..., agnosia.....no kn..., alar.....wing-like, alexia.....no words, alveus.....canal, amacrine.....no l..., ambidextrous........, ambiguus.....doub... and 701 more...
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Anatomy of plants and animals
A collection of anatomical names for parts of humans, animals, plants, and whatever anyone else can recall.
anther, stamen, pistil, filament, style, stigma, calyx, petal, sepal, peduncle, carpel, leaf and 22 more...
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Words that have gone out of fashion
words are fashionable -wane and wax - in usage. This is an open list of those words now out of fashion.
marconigram, flapper, bully, glockenspiel, periphrastic, bouffant, cackle, oldfangled, brigadoon, nohow, cat-salt, indecorous and 45 more...
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Tuesday words
just the next words that come along
nasality, transignification, lapsarian, disciple, slanguage, atwitter, avast, ahoy, asleep, awake, hymnody, glissade and 573 more...
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...:::bella:::...
originally started as an attempt to collect words I found visually and auditorially beautiful, as well as psychically evocative, this has become nothing more than a grab bag of word curiosities, a ...
bergamot, jambalaya, bee's knees, heliotrope, hosanna, gamboge, aureole, filial, madrigal, multilingual, sacrosanct, sojourn and 1072 more...
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rememberers
prolix, ageusia, animadversion, anodyne, antic, arabesque, beadle, brachymetropia, colophon, desquamation, diaphoresis, diegesis and 3248 more...
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Personal glossary
pasquinade, dilatory, afflatus, expatiate, cambric, mantua, marplot, henotic, brio, hebetude, pertinacious, demijohn and 79 more...
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Cagastric Words
I do love medical history, and medical words, especially the obscure ones, but also some that are just plain fun.
cagastric, caprizant, dree, cacatory, aporrhoea, cataplasm, cicatrix, cicatrizant, surgation, theriac, vulnerary, sthenic and 41 more...
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The Eyes Have It
parts of the human eye
iris, pupil, sclera, macula, retina, vitreous, conjunctiva, cornea, lens, choroid, optic nerve, ciliary body and 34 more...
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Human Anatomical Terms
Human bits 'n' pieces.
vas deferens, incus, crypts of lieberkühn, patella, pancreas, scaphoid, appendix, rectum, caecum, vagina, hip, ear and 46 more...
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Good to know
when I can't find just the right word for it...
remplissage, rabblement, lucifugous, remolino, grammaticaster, lucubratory, homonym, alluvial, macula, vitiate, convalescent, wamble and 13 more...
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Lampbane's List of Words That She Has...
Title says it all. Because.
conniption, enigma, equitable, sublimate, conglomeration, niggardly, octave, vitriol, clandestine, uvula, caveat, pointillism and 37 more...
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jeffazi's Words
thigmokinetic, defenestrate, sybarite, baleful, paladin, topiary, syzygy, kudzu, mendacious, factotum, stentor, curtal and 30 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for macula.
chained_bear (see also maculae) Oct 11, 2008
jeffazi *small spot on skin - in physiology, a small pigmented spot on the skin that is neither raised nor depressed
*yellow spot near the retina - in ophthalmology,
a small yellowish spot in the middle of the retina that provides the greatest visual acuity and color
*astronomy - same as sunspot Oct 30, 2007