vulva
English
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin vulva, earlier volva (“womb, female sexual organ”), probably from volvō (“to turn, wrap around”). Akin to Sanskrit उल्ब (úlba, “womb”).
Pronunciation
Noun
vulva (plural vulvas or vulvae or vulvæ)
- (anatomy) The external female genitalia of humans and other placental mammals, which includes the clitoris, labia, and vulval vestibule/vulvar opening.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:vulva
- Hypernym: genitals
- 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 22:
- The wedge-shaped character was the triangle, the archaic Paleolithic sign of the vulva; the pubic triangle was at the end of the phallic stylus.
- 2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 216:
- Many of the less-sophisticated works are sexual in nature. Among the most common images are stylised vulvas, whole flocks of which appear on some cave walls.
- (biology) A protrusion on the side of a nematode.
Usage notes
See usage notes at vagina for the difference between vulva and vagina.
Derived terms
Translations
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Further reading
Dutch
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin vulva.
Pronunciation
Noun
vulva f (plural vulvas or vulvae)
- vulva
- Synonyms: schaamspleet, voorbips
Derived terms
See also
- vagina (in specialist language the same sense as English vagina, but in colloquial language synonymous with vulva)
Finnish
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin vulva.
Pronunciation
Noun
vulva
Declension
Inflection of vulva (Kotus type 10/koira, no gradation) | |||
---|---|---|---|
nominative | vulva | vulvat | |
genitive | vulvan | vulvien | |
partitive | vulvaa | vulvia | |
illative | vulvaan | vulviin | |
singular | plural | ||
nominative | vulva | vulvat | |
accusative | nom. | vulva | vulvat |
gen. | vulvan | ||
genitive | vulvan | vulvien vulvain rare | |
partitive | vulvaa | vulvia | |
inessive | vulvassa | vulvissa | |
elative | vulvasta | vulvista | |
illative | vulvaan | vulviin | |
adessive | vulvalla | vulvilla | |
ablative | vulvalta | vulvilta | |
allative | vulvalle | vulville | |
essive | vulvana | vulvina | |
translative | vulvaksi | vulviksi | |
abessive | vulvatta | vulvitta | |
instructive | — | vulvin | |
comitative | See the possessive forms below. |
Further reading
- “vulva”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish][1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-04
Galician
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin vulva.
Noun
vulva f (plural vulvas)
Interlingua
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin vulva, Italian vulva, English vulva, Spanish vulva, Portuguese vulva, French vulve.
Pronunciation
Noun
vulva (plural vulvas)
Coordinate terms
Italian
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin vulva, from earlier volva, from the Proto-Indo-European root *welH- (“to turn, wind”).
Pronunciation
Noun
vulva f (plural vulve)
Derived terms
See also
Latin
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind”). Cognates include Sanskrit उल्ब (ulba).
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈu̯ul.u̯a/, [ˈu̯ʊɫ̪u̯ä]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈvul.va/, [ˈvulvä]
Noun
vulva f (genitive vulvae); first declension
- (anatomy) the womb
- (anatomy, chiefly Medieval Latin) the vagina (the external orifice of the female reproductive tract)
Usage notes
- Unlike its English descendant, refers to the vagina (the internal tract) and not to the vulva (the external genitals), even medievally.
Declension
First-declension noun.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | vulva | vulvae |
Genitive | vulvae | vulvārum |
Dative | vulvae | vulvīs |
Accusative | vulvam | vulvās |
Ablative | vulvā | vulvīs |
Vocative | vulva | vulvae |
Derived terms
Further reading
- “uulua” on page 2341 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)
- “vulva”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- vulva in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Portuguese
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin vulva, from earlier volva, from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind”).
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: vul‧va
Noun
vulva f (plural vulvas)
Spanish
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin vulva, from earlier volva, from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind”).
Pronunciation
Noun
vulva f (plural vulvas)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “vulva”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swedish
Noun
vulva c
Declension
Declension of vulva | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | vulva | vulvan | vulvor | vulvorna |
Genitive | vulvas | vulvans | vulvors | vulvornas |
See also
- blygdläppar (“labia”)
- urinrör (“urethra”)
- vagina
References
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *welH-
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English learned borrowings from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ʌlvə
- Rhymes:English/ʌlvə/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- en:Anatomy
- English terms with quotations
- en:Biology
- en:Genitalia
- Dutch terms borrowed from Latin
- Dutch learned borrowings from Latin
- Dutch terms derived from Latin
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -s
- Dutch nouns with Latin plurals
- Dutch feminine nouns
- nl:Anatomy
- Finnish terms borrowed from Latin
- Finnish learned borrowings from Latin
- Finnish terms derived from Latin
- Finnish 2-syllable words
- Finnish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Finnish/ulʋɑ
- Rhymes:Finnish/ulʋɑ/2 syllables
- Finnish lemmas
- Finnish nouns
- fi:Anatomy
- Finnish koira-type nominals
- Galician terms borrowed from Latin
- Galician learned borrowings from Latin
- Galician terms derived from Latin
- Galician lemmas
- Galician nouns
- Galician countable nouns
- Galician feminine nouns
- gl:Anatomy
- Interlingua terms borrowed from Latin
- Interlingua terms derived from Latin
- Interlingua terms borrowed from Italian
- Interlingua terms derived from Italian
- Interlingua terms borrowed from English
- Interlingua terms derived from English
- Interlingua terms borrowed from Spanish
- Interlingua terms derived from Spanish
- Interlingua terms borrowed from Portuguese
- Interlingua terms derived from Portuguese
- Interlingua terms borrowed from French
- Interlingua terms derived from French
- Interlingua terms with IPA pronunciation
- Interlingua lemmas
- Interlingua nouns
- ia:Anatomy
- Italian terms borrowed from Latin
- Italian learned borrowings from Latin
- Italian terms derived from Latin
- Italian terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Italian 2-syllable words
- Italian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Italian/ulva
- Rhymes:Italian/ulva/2 syllables
- Italian lemmas
- Italian nouns
- Italian countable nouns
- Italian feminine nouns
- it:Anatomy
- Italian slang
- Italian humorous terms
- Latin terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Latin 2-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin lemmas
- Latin nouns
- Latin first declension nouns
- Latin feminine nouns in the first declension
- Latin feminine nouns
- la:Anatomy
- Medieval Latin
- Portuguese terms borrowed from Latin
- Portuguese learned borrowings from Latin
- Portuguese terms derived from Latin
- Portuguese terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Portuguese 2-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese countable nouns
- Portuguese feminine nouns
- pt:Anatomy
- Spanish terms borrowed from Latin
- Spanish learned borrowings from Latin
- Spanish terms derived from Latin
- Spanish terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Spanish 2-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Spanish terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Spanish/ulba
- Rhymes:Spanish/ulba/2 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish feminine nouns
- es:Anatomy
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- sv:Anatomy