3. (Zoöl.) (a) A small or narrow crescent. (b) A special area in front
of the beak of many bivalve shells. It sometimes has the shape of a
double crescent, but is oftener heart-shaped. See Illust. of Bivalve.
Lu"nu*let (?), n. [Dim. of lunule.] (Zoöl.) A small spot, shaped like a
half-moon or crescent; as, the lunulet on the wings of many insects.
Lu"nu*lite (?), n. [Lunule + -life: cf. F. lunulithe. See Lunula.]
(Paleon.) Any bryozoan of the genus Lunulites, having a more or less
circular form.
Lu"ny (?), a. [Shortened fr. lunatic.] Crazy; mentally unsound.
[Written also loony.] [Low, U.S.]
Lu*per"cal (?), a. Of or pertaining to the Lupercalia.
Lu*per"cal, n. A grotto on the Palatine Hill sacred to Lupercus, the
Lycean Pan.
||Lu`per*ca"li*a (?), n. pl. [L. luperealis, fr. Lupercus the Lycean
||Pan, so called fr. lupus a wolf, because he kept off the wolves.]
||(Rom. Antiq.) A feast of the Romans in honor of Lupercus, or Pan.
||
Lu"pine (?), n. [L. lupinus, lupinum, apparently fr. lupinus belonging
to a wolf, fr. lupus a wolf; perh. so called because it was supposed to
exhaust the soil: cf. F. lupin. Cf. Wolf.] (Bot.) A leguminous plant of
the genus Lupinus, especially L. albus, the seeds of which have been
used for food from ancient times. The common species of the Eastern
United States is L. perennis. There are many species in California.
Lu"pine (?), a. [See Lupine, n.] Wolfish; ravenous. Gauden.
Lu"pin*in (?), n. (Chem.) A glucoside found in the seeds of several
species of lupine, and extracted as a yellowish white crystalline
substance.
Lu"pin*ine (?), n. (Chem.) An alkaloid found in several species of
lupine (Lupinus luteus, L. albus, etc.), and extracted as a bitter
crystalline substance.
Lu"pu*lin (?), n. [Cf. F. lupulin. See Lupuline.] 1. (Chem.) A bitter
principle extracted from hops.
2. The fine yellow resinous powder found upon the strobiles or fruit of
hops, and containing this bitter principle. [Written also lupuline.]
Lu"pu*line (?), n. [NL. lupulus the hop, fr. L. lupus the hop: cf. F.
lupuline.] (Chem.) An alkaloid extracted from hops as a colorless
volatile liquid.
Lu`pu*lin"ic (?), a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or obtained from, hops;
specifically, designating an acid obtained by the decomposition of
lupulin.
||Lu"pus (?), n. [L., a wolf. See Wolf.] 1. (Med.) A cutaneous disease
||occurring under two distinct forms.
||
Lupus erythematosus is characterized by an eruption of red patches,
which become incrusted, leaving superficial scars. L. vulgaris is
marked by the development of nodules which often ulcerate deeply and
produce great deformity. Formerly the latter was often confounded with
cancer, and some varieties of cancer were included under Lupus.