Crossword clues for lunula
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Lunula \Lu"nu*la\, n.; pl. Lunul[ae]. [L., prop., a little moon. See Lunule.] (Anat. & Zo["o]l.) Same as Lunule.
Wiktionary
n. Something shaped like a crescent or half-moon; especially the pale area at the base of the fingernail.
WordNet
Wikipedia
The word lunula means little moon and commonly refers to:
- Lunula (amulet), a Roman amulet worn by girls, the equivalent of the bulla worn by boys
- Lunula (anatomy), the pale half-moon shape at the base of a fingernail
- Lunule (bivalve), a crescent-moon shaped area on the shells of some marine bivalves
- Two round brackets and the text between them
- Gold lunula, a specific kind of archaeological solid collar or necklace from the Bronze Age or later
- The openings in the test of a sand dollar
- Calophasia lunula, a species of moth
- Chaetodon lunula, a species of butterflyfish
The lunula, or lunulae (pl.) (little moon in Latin), is the crescent-shaped whitish area of the bed of a fingernail or toenail. The lunula is the visible part of the root of the nail.
In humans, it appears by week 14 of gestation, and has a primary structural role in defining the free edge of the distal nail plate (the part of the nail that grows outward).
A lunula (plural: lunulae) was a crescent moon shaped pendant worn by girls, the equivalent of the boy's bulla, girls ideally wore them as an apotropaic amulet. In the popular belief the Romans wore amulets usually as a talisman, to protect themselves against evil forces, demons and sorcery, but especially against the evil eye.
In Plautus' play, Epidicus asks the young girl Telestis: "Dont you remember my bringing you a gold lunula on your birthday, and a little gold ring for your finger?". Isidore of Seville provides an explicit definition: "Lunulae are female ornaments in the likeness of the moon, little hanging gold bullae". But in Plautus' play Rudens, Palaestra says her father gave her a golden bulla on the day of her birth. There is also some indication that babies of both sexes wore phallic amulets.
Upon the eve of marriage, the lunula would be removed, but instead of being saved, it would be burned with the rest of her childhood toys. There is much speculation as to what this signifies, but many say that it represents the beginning of the next phase of life.
Usage examples of "lunula".
They paused amid the trees while Sualtim removed the plain lunula he wore on other than ceremonial occasions.
King Ulad himself, in white and yellow and gold and wearing a lunula big as his head, bespoke the heroics, the genius, and the courage of the guests of honour.
Of course the druid wore a lunula, a moon-disk on a cord woven of gold wire about his neck.
His right hand was at his throat, fingers splayed out to touch, simultaneously, the lunula and sun-disk and mistletoe he wore.
He was gnawing, grinding his teeth on the hangnail, then the nail itself, the base of the nail, the pale arc of quarter moon, the lunula, and there was something awful and atavistic in the scene, Chin unborn, curled in a membranous sac, a scary little geek-headed humanoid, sucking his scalloped hands.
Most he saw were indeed ornate, worn only for dress occasions, and among them were those that wore gold lunulae or bore pendent sun-disks.