Ampulla
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2008-06-27T16:08:38Z
Johnbod
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plural
An '''Ampulla''' (plural "ampullae") was, in Ancient Rome, a "small nearly globular flask or bottle, with two handles" ([[OED]]). The word is used of these in archaeology, and of later, often handle-less flasks for [[holy water]] or [[holy oil]] in the Middle Ages, often bought as souvenirs of pilgrimages.
* Part of the [[British Crown Jewels]] is the '''Ampulla''', a hollow, gold, eagle-shaped vessel from which the anointing oil is poured by the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] at the [[anoint]]ing of a new [[British monarchy|British sovereign]] at their [[Coronation of the British Monarch|coronation]].
==Medicine and science==
*By extension, in scientific contexts, it may mean a dilated segment in a tubular structure. It is used to describe several anatomical structures:
** [[Ampullae of Lorenzini]]
** [[ampulla of uterine tube]]
** [[ampulla of ductus deferens]]
** [[hepatopancreatic ampulla]]
** [[rectal ampulla]]
** [[osseous ampullae]]
* '''Ampullae''' are also bulb-like structures above the [[tube feet]] in [[echinoderms]].
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[[sv:ampull]]