Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Vulva |
VulvaNoun1. External parts of the female genitalia. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Etymology: Vulva \Vul"va\, noun. [Latin expression vulva, volva, from volvere to roll.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Health | The external female genital organs, including the clitoris, vaginal lips, and the opening to the vagina. (references) |
Multilingual Slang | Basque (ala, alu), Estonian (vitt ), French (moule ), Spanish (papaya, papayona). (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The external genital organs of the female, or external opening of the vagina is known as the vulva (also sometimes called the pudendum).
In human beings it consists of the labia majora and minora (whilst these names translate as "large" and "small" lips, often the "minora" can be larger, and protrude outside the "majora"), clitoris, opening of the urethra (meatus), and the opening of the vagina.
The main functions involving the vulva are sexual behavior, urination, menstruation, and childbirth.
The soft mound at the front of the vulva is the mons pubis. Or specifically for humans, the mons veneris or "mount of Venus". After puberty it is normally covered with pubic hair to a greater or lesser extent. The labia majora or large lips extend on either side of the vulva, and may also be covered with pubic hair. The labia majora entirely or partially hide the other parts of the vulva. The colour of the skin of the labia majora is usually related to the general skin colour of the individual, although there is considerable variation.
The labia minora are two soft pink folds within the labia majora and to either side of the opening of the vagina. The clitoris is at the front of the vulva where the labia minora meet. The opening of the urethra is between the clitoris and vagina. The skin colour of these internal parts of the vulva is generally pink, regardless of the general skin colour of the individual.
The appearance of the vulva and the size of the various parts varies a great deal from one woman to another, and it is common for the left and right sides to not "match" exactly in an individual woman. In many cultures, including modern Western culture, some women have shaved or depilated part or all of the vulva.
Western cultures have commonly viewed the vulva as something shameful to be hidden, however in some other cultures it has been celebrated and even worshipped. In some Hindu sects the vulva is revered under the name yoni, and texts seem to indicate a similar attitude in some ancient Middle Eastern religions. As an aspect of Goddess worship such reverence may be part of modern Neopagan or Wiccan beliefs, and may be indicated in paleolithic artworks.
Heterosexual couples wishing to avoid pregnancy should note that pregnancy is possible if semen comes in contact with the vulva (even through underwear) and the sperm swim into the vagina on their own. It is not necessary for ejaculation to occur inside the vagina.
In common speech, the term "vagina" is often used improperly to refer to the vulva or female genitals generally, even though strictly speaking the vagina is a specific internal structure and the vulva is the exterior genitalia only. Calling the vulva the vagina is akin to calling the mouth the throat.
See also: Orgasm, Vulvovaginal health, Vulvovaginal disorders, Pussy, Female genital mutilation, Clitoridectomy.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Vulva."
Crosswords: Vulva |
| English words defined with "vulva": cunnilinctus, cunnilingus ♦ Fourchette ♦ kraurosis vulvae ♦ labia majora, labia minora, labial vein, labium ♦ Nympha ♦ pudendal block ♦ vena labialis, vulval, vulvar, vulvectomy, vulvitis, Vulvo-uterine, Vulvovaginal, vulvovaginitis. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "vulva": ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATOR ♦ Candidiasis, Vulvovaginal ♦ inseminator ♦ pink-leaky canoe ♦ stage I cancer of the vulva, stage II cancer of the vulva ♦ vulval, vulvar, Vulvar Diseases, Vulvar Neoplasms. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "vulva": Vulvitis. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Vulva" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Czech (vulva), Dutch (cunt, pussy), German (pudendum, vulva), Italian (vulva), Latin (womb), Portuguese (cunt, pussy, vulva), Spanish (vulva), Swedish (vulva), Turkish (pudenda, vulva). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Well, it's also polite for the first person in the bathroom to spend less than 45 minutes in there, even if that person has a vulva. (Six Feet Under; writing credit: David Starkey) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | A patient with condylomata lata, which can develop during secondary syphilis, and presents as gray, raised papules appearing on the vulva and near the anus, or in any other warm intertriginous region. Credit: CDC. |  | Mucous patches form during the breakdown of mucous membranes, seen here on the inferior surface of the tongue. During the secondary stage of syphilis, mucous patches can also develop inside the mouth, vulva, and vagina. Credit: CDC. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Sex organs, including the penis and testicles in men and the vagina and vulva in women. (references) | |
Vulvovaginitis refers to inflammation of both the vagina and vulva (the external female genitals). (references) | ||
They can appear on the vulva, in or around the vagina or anus, on the cervix, and on the penis, scrotum, groin, or thigh. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Vulva" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Vulva" is used about 50 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 50 | 48,117 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "vulva": lips of the vulva ♦ stage I cancer of the vulva ♦ stage II cancer of the vulva ♦ stage III cancer of the vulva ♦ stage IV cancer of the vulva ♦ vestibule of the vulva. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "vulva": vulva-vaginal, vulva-vaginitis. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
vulva | 1,906 | horse vulva | 12 |
vulva picture | 122 | vulva itching | 12 |
vulva photo | 104 | animal vulva | 12 |
cancer of the vulva | 83 | varicose vein vulva | 12 |
girl vulva youngest | 79 | prepubescent vulva | 11 |
hairy vulva | 45 | woman vulva | 11 |
vulva pic | 41 | pumping vulva | 11 |
female vulva | 34 | cancer picture vulva | 11 |
vulva and anatomy | 31 | wet vulva | 10 |
massage vulva | 29 | lump vulva | 9 |
vagina vulva | 29 | dog vulva | 9 |
big vulva | 23 | vulva gallery | 9 |
large vulva | 22 | cervix vagina vulva | 9 |
clitoris vulva | 22 | view vulva | 8 |
shaved vulva | 21 | photo vulva womans | 8 |
teen vulva | 19 | girl vulva | 8 |
female picture vulva | 16 | sore vulva | 8 |
sex vulva | 14 | picture preteen vulva | 8 |
vulva cyst | 14 | labia labia majora minora vulva | 8 |
swollen vulva | 14 | vulva image | 8 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "vulva"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | vulvë. (various references) | |
Arabic | الفرج. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | вулва, женски външни полови органи. (various references) | |
Chinese | 屄 . (various references) | |
Czech | vulva. (various references) | |
Danish | vulva (cunnus, pudendum). (various references) | |
Dutch | vulva (cunnus, pudendum), vestibulum vaginae (cunnus, pudendum), schaamspleet (cunnus, pudendum), pudendum muliebre (cunnus, pudendum), pudendum femininum (cunnus, pudendum), cunnus (cunnus, pudendum). (various references) | |
Farsi | فرج(تش.), مادگی (Buttonhole, Pistil, Vigilance). (various references) | |
Finnish | pruritus vulvae (pruritus of the vulva, pruritus vulvae), häpykutina (pruritus of the vulva, pruritus vulvae). (various references) | |
French | vulve. (various references) | |
German | weibliche Scham (pudenda), Vulva (pudendum). (various references) | |
Greek | αιδοίο θήλεοσ. (various references) | |
Hebrew | פות" (foolish, hole for a hinge, naןve, opening, pudenda, silly, simple, vagina), פות (pudenda). (various references) | |
Hungarian | szeméremajak. (various references) | |
Indonesian | memek (vagina), kemaluan wanita (pudendum), farji (vagina). (various references) | |
Italian | vulva (cunnus, external female genital organs, pudendum). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | "卵口 (vulvae), わが国 (arc, architecture, archive, archiver, argument, argyle, argyle check, be excited, bustling, creepy crawly, get nervous, hiragana for "we", hiragana for "wi", our country, our land, shuffling, slit, squirming, tremble, vagina). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | さ"ら""う (vulvae), われめちゃ" (slit, vagina), われめ (slit, vagina). (various references) | |
Manx | pitt (vagina), pihtt (fanny, vagina). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ulvavay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | vulva. (various references) | |
Russian | вульва. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | stidnica (pudendal cleft). (various references) | |
Spanish | vulva (cunnus, pudendum). (various references) | |
Swedish | blygd (private parts). (various references) | |
Turkish | vulva (pudenda), ferç, dişilik organı (pistil). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | вульва. (various references) | |
Welsh | maneg (gauntlet, glove). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Sumerian | 3100 BCE-2500 BCE | gal, murub, sal. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Job Chapter 3, Verse 11 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Dia ti gar en koilia ouk eteleuthsa ek gastroV de exhlqon kai ouk euquV apwlomhn |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Quare non in vulva mortuus sum egressus ex utero non statim perii |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | Whi not in the wombe I am dead? gon out of the wombe not anoon I pershide? |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | Why died I not from the womb? why did I not expire at the time of my birth? |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | Why did death not take me when I came out of my mother's body, why did I not, when I came out, give up my last breath? |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Job Chapter 3, Verse 11 |
| Albanian | Pse nuk vdiqa në barkun e nënës sime? Pse nuk vdiqa sapo dola nga barku i saj? |
| Bulgarian | Защо не умрях при раждането, И не издъхнах щом излязох из утробата? |
| Cebuano | ¶ Ngano nga ako wala mamatay sa tagoangkan? Ngano nga sa pag-anak kanako sa akong inahan wala mabugto ang akong gininhawa? |
| Croatian | to nisam mrtav od krila materina, što ne izdahnuh izlazeæ' iz utrobe? |
| Danish | Hvi døde jeg ikke i Moders Liv eller udånded straks fra Moders Skød? |
| Dutch | Waarom ben ik niet gestorven van de baarmoeder af, en heb den geest gegeven, als ik uit den buik voortkwam? |
| Finnish | Miksi en kuollut heti äidin helmaan, miksi en menehtynyt kohdusta tullessani? |
| French | Pourquoi ne suis-je pas mort dans le ventre de ma mère? Pourquoi n`ai-je pas expiré au sortir de ses entrailles? |
| German | Warum bin ich nicht gestorben von Mutterleib an? Warum bin ich nicht verschieden, da ich aus dem Leibe kam? |
| Haitian Creole | ¶ Poukisa mwen pa t' mouri depi nan vant manman m'? Poukisa mwen pa t' tou mouri nan pasaj kite sa? |
| Hungarian | Mért is nem haltam meg fogantatásomkor; mért is ki nem multam, mihelyt megszülettem? |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Mengapa aku tidak mati dalam rahim ibu, atau putus nyawa pada saat kelahiranku? |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Mengapa tiada aku mati baharu keluar dari dalam rahim, dan putus nyawa baharu keluar dari dalam perut? |
| Italian | E perché non sono morto fin dal seno di mia madre e non spirai appena uscito dal grembo? |
| Maori | ¶ He aha ahau te mate ai i te kopu? He aha te hemo ai i toku putanga mai i te kopu? |
| Norwegian | Hvorfor døde jeg ikke i mors liv? Hvorfor utåndet jeg ikke straks i fødselsstunden? |
| Portuguese | Por que não morri ao nascer? por que não expirei ao vir luz? |
| Rumanian | Dece n`am murit kn pkntecele mamei mele? Dece nu mi-am dat sufletul la iewirea din pkntecele ei? |
| Russian | дМС ЮЕЗП ОЕ ХНЕТ С, ЧЩИП"С ЙЪ ХФТП'Щ, Й ОЕ УЛПОЮБМУС, ЛПЗ"Б ЧЩЫЕМ ЙЪ ЮТЕЧБ? |
| Spanish | ¿Por qué no morí en las entrañas, o expiré al salir del vientre? |
| Swedish | Varför fick jag ej dö strax i modersskötet, förgås vid det jag kom ut ur min moders liv? |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "vulva": vulvae, vulval, vulvar, vulvas, vulvate. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| Words rhyming with "vulva" (pronounced 'Vul"va'): Comitiva, Conferva, Conjunctiva, Contrayerva, guava, Java, larva, LAVA, Minerva, Nova, Oliva, Saiva, saliva, Saxicava, Sieva, silva, Siva, Ulva, Urva, Uva, Viva, Volva. (additional references) |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-l-u-v-v" | |
-1 letter: ulva. | |
-2 letters: lav, luv, vau, vav. | |
-3 letters: al, la. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-l-u-v-v" | |
+1 letter: vulvae, vulval, vulvar, vulvas. | |
+2 letters: valvula, valvule, vulvate. | |
+3 letters: survival, univalve, valvulae, valvular, valvules. | |
+4 letters: overvalue, survivals, univalves. | |
+5 letters: evaluative, overvalued, overvalues, survivable, valvulitis, vaudeville. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Photo Album 6. Quotations: Non-fiction 7. Usage Frequency 8. Expressions | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Bible Trace | 13. Derivations 14. Rhymes 15. Anagrams 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
