MACULA (maculae)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: maculae   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does macula mean? 

• MACULA (noun)
  The noun MACULA has 3 senses:

1. a cooler darker spot appearing periodically on the sun's photosphere; associated with a strong magnetic field

2. a small yellowish central area of the retina that is rich in cones and that mediates clear detailed vision

3. a patch of skin that is discolored but not usually elevated; caused by various diseases

  Familiarity information: MACULA used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MACULA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A cooler darker spot appearing periodically on the sun's photosphere; associated with a strong magnetic field

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

macula; sunspot

Hypernyms ("macula" is a kind of...):

dapple; fleck; maculation; patch; speckle; spot (a small contrasting part of something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A small yellowish central area of the retina that is rich in cones and that mediates clear detailed vision

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

macula; macula lutea; macular area; yellow spot

Hypernyms ("macula" is a kind of...):

area; region (a part of an animal that has a special function or is supplied by a given artery or nerve)

Holonyms ("macula" is a part of...):

retina (the innermost light-sensitive membrane covering the back wall of the eyeball; it is continuous with the optic nerve)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A patch of skin that is discolored but not usually elevated; caused by various diseases

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

macula; macule

Hypernyms ("macula" is a kind of...):

dapple; fleck; maculation; patch; speckle; spot (a small contrasting part of something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "macula"):

freckle; lentigo (a small brownish spot (of the pigment melanin) on the skin)

liver spot (a type of skin disease that causes brown spots on the skin)

plague spot (a spot on the skin characteristic of the plague)

Holonyms ("macula" is a part of...):

cutis; skin; tegument (a natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch)

Derivation:

maculate (spot, stain, or pollute)

maculate (make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically)

 Context examples 

Lutein (LOO-teen) is a oxygenated carotenoid found in vegetables and fruits. lutein is found in the macula of the eye, where it is believed to act as a yellow filter.

(Lutein, NCI Thesaurus)

Cellular population adjacent to the renal corpuscle, composed of the macula densa, the juxtaglomerular cells, and the extraglomerular mesangial cells.

(Juxtaglomerular Apparatus, NCI Thesaurus)

The intercellular structures including the fascia adherens, gap junctions and macula adherens that connect single cardiac muscle cells to allow for synchronized contractions.

(Intercalated Disk, NCI Thesaurus)

Since retinal vascular development proceeds from the optic nerve to the ora serrata, the zones are centered on the optic disc rather than the macula.

(Immature Retinal Vasculature, NICHD)

Zone I is a circle, the radius of which extends from the center of the optic disc to twice the distance from the center of the optic disc to the center of the macula.

(Immature Retinal Vasculature in Zone 1, NICHD)

Any of a group of cells that are situated in the wall of each afferent arteriole of a kidney glomerulus near its point of entry adjacent to a macula densa and that produce and secrete renin.

(Juxtaglomerular Cell, NCI Thesaurus)