vulva
See also: vulvă and Vulva
English
Illustration of a vulva.
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
- IPA(key): /ˈvʌlvə/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ʌlvə
Noun
vulva (plural vulvas or vulvae or vulvæ)
- (anatomy) The external female sexual organs, collectively.
- 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.
- (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
- multivulva
- vulval
- vulvaless
- vulvar
- vulvate
- vulvectomy
- vulvic
- vulviform
Translations
collectively the external female sexual organs
|
Further reading
vulva on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Dutch
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin vulva.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈvʏl.vaː/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: vul‧va
Noun
vulva f (plural vulvas or vulvae)
- vulva
- Synonyms: schaamspleet, voorbips
Derived terms
- vulvitis
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
- IPA(key): /ˈʋulʋɑ/, [ˈʋulʋɑ]
- Rhymes: -ulʋɑ
- Syllabification(key): vul‧va
Noun
vulva
- (anatomy) vulva
- Synonym: häpy
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 vulvainrare | |
| 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 | |
| instructive | — | vulvin | |
| abessive | vulvatta | vulvitta | |
| comitative | — | vulvineen | |
| Possessive forms of vulva (type koira) | ||
|---|---|---|
| possessor | singular | plural |
| 1st person | vulvani | vulvamme |
| 2nd person | vulvasi | vulvanne |
| 3rd person | vulvansa | |
Galician
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin vulva.
Noun
vulva f (plural vulvas)
- vulva
Interlingua
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin vulva, Italian vulva, English vulva, Spanish vulva, Portuguese vulva, French vulve.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈvul.va/
Noun
vulva (plural vulvas)
- vulva
Coordinate terms
- vagina
Italian
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin vulva, from earlier volva, from the Proto-Indo-European root *welH- (“to turn, wind”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈvul.va/
- Rhymes: -ulva
- Hyphenation: vùl‧va
Noun
vulva f (plural vulve)
- (anatomy) the external female genitalia; vulva
- (by extension, slang, humorous) vagina
Derived terms
- vulvare
- vulvovaginale
- vulvovaginite
See also
- clitoride
- grandi labbra
- piccole labbra
- vagina
Latin
Alternative forms
- volva, bulba
Etymology
From Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind”). Cognates include Sanskrit उल्ब (ulba).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈu̯ul.u̯a/, [ˈu̯ʊɫ̪u̯ä]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈvul.va/, [ˈvulvä]
Noun
vulva f (genitive vulvae); first declension
- (anatomy) the womb
- Synonyms: mātrīx, uterus
- (anatomy, chiefly Medieval Latin) the vagina (the external orifice of the female reproductive tract)
- Synonyms: (euphemistic) vāgīna, (vulgar) cunnus, (medieval) valva
- Holonyms: verētrum, muliebria, pudenda, verenda, genitālia, partēs, membra, nātūra
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
- vulvula, volvula
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
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈvuw.vɐ/ [ˈvuʊ̯.vɐ]
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈvuw.va/ [ˈvuʊ̯.va]
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈvul.vɐ/ [ˈvuɫ.vɐ]
- Hyphenation: vul‧va
Noun
vulva f (plural vulvas)
- (anatomy) vulva (the external female sexual organs)
- Synonym: (vulgar) cona
Spanish
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin vulva, from earlier volva, from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbulba/ [ˈbul.β̞a]
- Rhymes: -ulba
- Syllabification: vul‧va
Noun
vulva f (plural vulvas)
- (anatomy) vulva (the external female sexual organs)
Derived terms
- vulvar
Further reading
- “vulva”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swedish
Noun
vulva c
- (anatomy) a vulva (the external female sex organs)
- Synonym: blygd
Declension
| Declension of vulva | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | vulva | vulvan | vulvor | vulvorna |
| Genitive | vulvas | vulvans | vulvors | vulvornas |
References
- vulva in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- vulva in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- vulva in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)