Adjacent Words

carbuncle definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: deep-red cabochon garnet cut without facets
2: an infection larger than a boil and with several openings for discharge of pus

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French charbucle, carbuncule, from Latin carbunculus small coal, carbuncle, diminutive of carbon-, carbo charcoal, ember Date: 13th century 1. a. obsolete any of several red precious stones b. the garnet cut cabochon 2. a painful local purulent inflammation of the skin and deeper tissues with multiple openings for the discharge of pus and usually necrosis and sloughing of dead tissue • carbuncled adjective • carbuncular adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a severe abscess in the skin. 2 a bright red gem. Derivatives: carbuncular adj. Etymology: ME f. OF charbucle etc. f. L carbunculus small coal f. carbo coal

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Carbuncle Car"bun*cle, n. [L. carbunculus a little coal, a bright kind of precious stone, a kind of tumor, dim. of carbo coal: cf. F. carboncle. See Carbon.] 1. (Min.) A beautiful gem of a deep red color (with a mixture of scarlet) called by the Greeks anthrax; found in the East Indies. When held up to the sun, it loses its deep tinge, and becomes of the color of burning coal. The name belongs for the most part to ruby sapphire, though it has been also given to red spinel and garnet. 2. (Med.) A very painful acute local inflammation of the subcutaneous tissue, esp. of the trunk or back of the neck, characterized by brawny hardness of the affected parts, sloughing of the skin and deeper tissues, and marked constitutional depression. It differs from a boil in size, tendency to spread, and the absence of a central core, and is frequently fatal. It is also called anthrax. 3. (Her.) A charge or bearing supposed to represent the precious stone. It has eight scepters or staves radiating from a common center. Called also escarbuncle.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(carbuncles) A carbuncle is a large swelling under the skin. = boil N-COUNT

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(Ex. 28:17; 39:10; Ezek. 28:13). Heb. barkath; LXX. smaragdos; Vulgate, smaragdus; Revised Version, marg., "emerald." The Hebrew word is from a root meaning "to glitter," "lighten," "flash." When held up to the sun, this gem shines like a burning coal, a dark-red glowing coal, and hence is called "carbunculus", i.e., a little coal. It was one of the jewels in the first row of the high priest's breastplate. It has been conjectured by some that the garnet is meant. In Isa. 54:12 the Hebrew word is _'ekdah_, used in the prophetic description of the glory and beauty of the mansions above. Next to the diamond it is the hardest and most costly of all precious stones.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kar'-bun-k'-l.

See STONES, PRECIOUS.

Moby Thesaurus

abscess, aposteme, bed sore, blain, bleb, blister, boil, bubo, bulla, bump, bunion, canker, canker sore, chancre, chancroid, chilblain, cold sore, corn, cyst, dilatation, dilation, distension, edema, eschar, felon, fester, festering, fever blister, fistula, furuncle, furunculus, gathering, gumboil, hemorrhoids, intumescence, kibe, lesion, lump, papula, papule, paronychia, parulis, petechia, piles, pimple, pock, polyp, pustule, rising, scab, sebaceous cyst, soft chancre, sore, stigma, sty, suppuration, swell, swelling, swollenness, tubercle, tumefaction, tumescence, tumidity, tumor, turgescence, turgescency, turgidity, ulcer, ulceration, wale, welt, wen, wheal, whelk, whitlow, wound