vulva
English

Etymology
Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value), 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.
- 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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Dutch
Etymology
Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈvʏl.vaː/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: vul‧va
Derived terms
Finnish
Etymology
Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈʋulʋɑ/, [ˈʋulʋɑ̝]
- Rhymes: -ulʋɑ
- Syllabification(key): vul‧va
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 | ||
abessive | vulvatta | vulvitta | ||
instructive | — | vulvin | ||
comitative | See the possessive forms below. |
Possessive forms of vulva (Kotus type 10/koira, no gradation) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Further reading
- “vulva”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish] (online dictionary, continuously updated, in Finnish), Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-04
Galician
Etymology
Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value).
Noun
vulva f (plural vulvas)
- Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)
Interlingua
Etymology
Borrowed from Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value), Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value), Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value), Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value), Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value), French vulve.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈvul.va/
Coordinate terms
Italian
Etymology
Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value), 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)
Derived terms
Latin
Alternative forms
- volva, vulba, bulba
Etymology
From Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind”). Cognates include Sanskrit उल्ब (ulba).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈu̯ul.u̯a/, [ˈu̯ʊɫ̪u̯ä]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈvul.va/, [ˈvulvä]
Noun
vulva f (genitive vulvae); first declension
Usage notes
Declension
Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)
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
Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value), 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]
- (Northern Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈbul.bɐ/ [ˈbuɫ.βɐ]
- Hyphenation: vul‧va
Spanish
Etymology
Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value), from earlier volva, from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbulba/ [ˈbul.β̞a]
Audio (Venezuela): (file) - Rhymes: -ulba
- Syllabification: vul‧va
Noun
vulva f (plural vulvas)
- (anatomy) Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value) (the external female sexual organs)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “vulva”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swedish
Noun
vulva c
Declension
Lua error: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)
See also
- blygdläppar (“labia”)
- urinrör (“urethra”)
- vagina