Etymology

ranula

R1A1N1U1L1A1

Today it means: A tumor or swelling located in the floor of the mouth under the tongue; specifically a bluish, domed mucocele which is associated with an obstruction of the sublingual salivary gland. Full definition →

First used 15th c.Latin rānula
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Latin · derived fromrānula“a little frog, a tadpole; a little swelling on the tongue of cattle”
  2. English todayranula

Late Middle English, coined by French physician and surgeon Guy de Chauliac: borrowed from Latin rānula (“a little frog, a tadpole; a little swelling on the tongue of cattle”).

First known use, by meaning

  • from 15th c. A tumor or swelling located in the floor of the mouth under the tongue; specifically a bluish, domed mucocele which is associated with an obstruction of the sublingual salivary gland.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.