CAUL • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Caul

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/kɑl/ /kɔl/ Listen

noun

Caul n.

A covering of network for the head, worn by women; also, a net.

(Anat.) The fold of membrane loaded with fat, which covers more or less of the intestines in mammals; the great omentum. See Omentum. "The caul serves for the warming of the lower belly."

A part of the amnion, one of the membranes enveloping the fetus, which sometimes is round the head of a child at its birth; called also a veil. "It is deemed lucky to be with a caul or membrane over the face. This caul is esteemed an infallible preservative against drowning... According to Chrysostom, the midwives frequently sold it for magic uses." "I was born with a caul, which was advertised for sale, in the newspapers, at the low price of fifteen guineas."

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Etymology of 'Caul'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Caul" Quotes from Famous Books

... the fragment in Old Northumbrian had indeed been attempted at the beginning of the nineteenth century by Mr. Repp and also by a disciple of the great Fin Magnusen, Mr. J. M. M'Caul, but the least said about these versions the better, both being wide of the mark. Being imperfectly acquainted with Old English they made the most absurd statements regarding the purpose the monument ...

— Studies from Court and Cloister • J.M. Stone

... skin hanging from the head' (No. 51) may have been fragments of the membranes; but there is nothing in the accompanying prediction to help us to trace the origin of the popular belief in the good luck following the baby born with a caul. If No. 53 was a case of congenital horns on the head, it must be regarded as a unique example, unless, indeed, a form of fetal ...

— Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine • George M. Gould

... over-credulous sovereign ordered that it should immediately be cast outside the city. Shen Chen-jen, who was passing, saw the small abandoned one, and said: "This is an Immortal who has just been born." With his knife he cut open the caul which enveloped it, ...

— Myths and Legends of China • E. T. C. Werner

... that it is hard for anyone that hath not had the experience thereof to believe. For instance, a deep and grievous wound in the breast with a dagger, and two others in the abdomen (or nether belly), so that the fat commonly named the caul, issued forth, the which mortal wounds, by God's permission, and the virtues of this herb, I perfectly cured within twenty days—for the which the ...

— Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure • William Thomas Fernie

... your packing-needle a piece of packthread through the eyes of the pike, through the middle and the tail also in the form of S; wash it over with the yolk of an egg, and strew it with the crumbs of bread. Roast or bake it with a caul over it. Sauce—melted butter ...

— The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory; • Charlotte Campbell Bury

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