globule

From French globule, from Latin globulus, from globus (“globe”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɡlɒbjuːl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɡlɑbjul/
• Hyphenation: glob‧ule

globule (plural globules)

1. A small round particle of substance; a drop.
   • 1704, Sir Isaac Newton, Opticks, 3rd edition, London: W. and J. Innys, published 1721, page 289:

     Suppoſe now that in a fair Day the Sun ſhines through a thin Cloud of ſuch globules of Water or Hail, and that the globules are all of the ſame bigneſs […]

   • 1991, Dean W. Ahrenholz, “Population Biology and Life History of the North American Menhadens, Brevoortia spp.”, in Marine Fisheries Review‎, page 9:

     They described the eggs as spherical in shape, highly transparent with a thin, horny egg membrane and a relatively wide perivitelline space. Each egg contained a single oil globule.

   • 2005 June 4, Janet Raloff, “Empty Nets: Fisheries may be crippling themselves by targeting the big ones”, in Science News‎:

     Mature female black rockfish and newborn (inset), which sports an oil globule (arrow) - its prepacked lunch. Older moms give young a bigger starting meal, boosting the offsprings'^[sic] growth and survival.

Borrowed from Latin globulus.

• IPA^(key): /ɡlɔbyl/

globule m (plural globules)

1. globule
2. blood cell

• globule blanc
• globule rouge

• “globule” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

globule

1. vocative singular of globulus