auricular

English

Etymology

Late Middle English, borrowed from Late Latin auriculāris, from auricula (“the external ear; the ear”) +‎ -āris (“-ar”, adjectival suffix); equivalent to auricle +‎ -ar. Doublet of auricularis.

The finger is so called because it can be readily introduced into the ear passage.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɔːˈɹɪk.jʊl.ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɔˈɹɪk.jəl.ɚ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪkjʊlə(ɹ)

Adjective

auricular (not comparable)

1. (relational) Of or pertaining to the ear.

   Synonym: otic

   • 1780, Kane O'Hara, “Address to the Audience by Punch, on the Opening of the Microcosm”, in Songs in the Comic Opera of Tom Thumb the Great‎, Dublin: Arthur Grueber, page vi:

     […] our performances are pastimes jocular,
     To please the auricular organ and the ocular.

   1. (anatomy, relational) Of or pertaining to the sense of hearing.

      Synonyms: auditory, aural

      The auricular nerves were damaged.

   2. Told to the ear; told privately.

      auricular confession to the priest

   3. Recognized by the ear; understood by the sense of hearing.

      auricular evidence

      • c. 1603–1606 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] His True Chronicle Historie of the Life and Death of King Lear and His Three Daughters. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Nathaniel Butter, […], published 1608, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

        […] I will place you where you shall hear us confer of this and by an auricular assurance have your satisfaction, […]

      • 1605, Francis Bacon, “The First Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for Henrie Tomes, […], →OCLC:

        [I]n the practises [astrology, natural magic and alchemy] are full of Errour and vanitie; which the great Professors themselues haue sought to vaile ouer and conceale by enigmaticall writings, and referring themselues to auricular traditions, and such other deuises, to saue the credite of Impostures; […]

      • 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter XXV, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume II, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC, phase the fifth (The Woman Pays), page 200:

        When she ceased the auricular impressions from their previous endearments seemed to hustle away into the corners of their brains, repeating themselves as echoes from a time of supremely purblind foolishness.

2. (anatomy, relational) Pertaining to the auricles of the heart.
3. (art, relational) Pertaining to a style of ornamental decoration, originating in Northern Europe in the first half of the 17th century, that uses softly flowing abstract shapes in relief some of which bear a resemblance to the human ear; commonly used in silverware, picture frames, and architecture.

Derived terms

• auricular artery
• auricular fibrillation
• auricularly
• auricular muscle
• auricular style
• auriculo-
• biauricular
• cephaloauricular
• conoauricular
• interauricular
• monoauricular
• nonauricular
• oculoauricular
• periauricular
• postauricular
• preauricular
• retroauricular
• sinoauricular
• subauricular
• supraauricular
• temporoauricular
• transauricular
• zygomaticoauricular

Translations

of or pertaining to the ear

Arabic: أُذُنِيّ (ʔuḏuniyy) Belarusian: вушны́ (vušný) Bulgarian: ушен (ušen) Chinese: Mandarin: 耳的 (zh) (ěr de) Czech: ušní (cs) Esperanto: orela Finnish: korva- German: Ohren- (de) Polish: uszny (pl) Russian: ушно́й (ru) (ušnój) Slovak: ušný (sk) Spanish: auricular (es) Ukrainian: вушни́й (uk) (vušnýj)

of or pertaining to the sense of hearing

Belarusian: слухавы́ (sluxavý) Bulgarian: слухов (sluhov) Czech: sluchový (cs) Esperanto: aŭda Finnish: kuulo- Polish: słuchowy (pl), audialny, audytywny Russian: слухово́й (ru) (sluxovój) Spanish: auricular (es) Ukrainian: слухови́й (sluxovýj)

Noun

auricular (plural auriculars)

1. The little finger, the outermost and smallest finger of the hand.

   Synonyms: ear finger, fourth finger, little finger, mercurial finger, pinkie

   • 1659, Richard Lovelace, “A Fly about a Glasse of Burnt Claret”, in Lucasta posthume poems of Richard Lovelace‎, London: Clement Darby, page 38:

     Yet see! my glad Auricular
     Redeems thee (though dissolv’d) a Star, […]

2. (humorous) The ear.
   • 1893, W. S. Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, Utopia, Limited, London: Chappell & Co., act I, page 6:

     A pound of dynamite
     Explodes in his auriculars
     It’s not a pleasant sight—
     We’ll spare you the particulars.

Translations

little finger

Arabic: خِنْصِر m (ḵinṣir) Egyptian Arabic: خنصر m (xenṣar) Catalan: auricular (ca) m Finnish: pikkusormi (fi) French: auriculaire (fr) m Italian: auricolare (it)

References

• “auricular”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “auricular”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin auriculāris.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [əw.ɾi.kuˈla]

• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [aw.ɾi.kuˈlaɾ]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

auricular m or f (masculine and feminine plural auriculars)

1. (relational) ear; auricular
2. (relational) hearing; auricular
3. (relational) auricle; auricular

Related terms

• aurícula
• orella

Noun

auricular m (plural auriculars)

1. (chiefly in the plural) earphone, headphone, earpiece
2. little finger, pinky

   Synonyms: dit petit, menovell

3. (Catholicism) auricular confession

   Synonym: confessió

Further reading

• “auricular”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “auricular”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “auricular” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “auricular” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.