[Anglicized f. VALVULA or a. F. valvule.] A small valve, in various senses.
1755. in Johnson.
1760. J. Lee, Introd. Bot., I. vi. (1765), 13. The Inclosure of the Capsule, which surrounds … the Fruit externally, is called a Valvule.
1831. T. Hope, Ess. Origin Man, II. 62. Their weight, pressing backwards on the parietes of the vessels, scoops these out at certain distances into bags or valvules.
1870. trans. Pouchet’s Universe, 126. In the interior of this lengthened heart larger valvules … are folded back against the wall to let the blood pass forward.
1879. Trans. Linn. Soc., II. I. 31. The edge … is not straight, but cut into a series of minute valvules, the crescentic or respiratory leaves.
