Meanings
- medicineOf the renal arteries and veins.
By the motion of the Heart, through the Emulgent Branches, the Blood is brought to the Kidneys, and is there freed of its Serum by their little Glands, […]
1705, George Cheyne, “Of the Existence of a Deity”, in Philosophical Principles of Natural Religion: […], London: Printed for George Strahan […], →OCLC, § XXXV, page 2131 more example
...the kidneys, plac'd at the extremities of two large blood-vessels, the emulgent vein and artery, derived from the great vein and artery, very soon after their parting at the heart, the fountain of circulation.
1734, William Stukeley, Of the Gout, page 49
plural emulgents
- medicineA substance promoting bile or urine production
- A renal artery or vein.
Origin
- Latinemulgens
- Englishemulgent
From Latin emulgens, present participle of emulgere (“to milk out”); so called because the kidney was regarded by the ancients as straining out the serum, as if by milking, and so producing the urine.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
emulgent. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/emulgent
“emulgent.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/emulgent. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “emulgent,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/emulgent.
Source: emulgent on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.