Standard Lemma guide

fistula

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈfɪs.tjə.lə/
  • UK: /ˈfɪs.tʃʊ.lə/
  • General-American: /ˈfɪs.tjə.lə/
  • General-American: /ˈfɪs.t͡ʃu.lə/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels that normally do not connect.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: medicine, sciences

Examples

  • communicating fistula
  • blind fistula

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A tube, a pipe, or a hole.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: rare

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The tube through which the wine of the Eucharist was once sucked from the chalice in certain ceremonies (such as papal Masses).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

Topics: Christianity

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: calamus

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

an abnormal passage leading from a suppurating cavity to the body surface

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sinus

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: passage, passageway

5

noun

Meaning 5

a chronic inflammation of the withers of a horse

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fistulous withers

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: animal disease

History

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin fistula (“pipe, ulcer, catheter”). Doublet of fester.

Across languages

Translations

75 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: fistel — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Arabic: نَاسُور (nāsūr) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Armenian: խուղակ (xuġak) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Bambara: sugunɛkɛbana — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Bambara: ɲɛgɛkɛbana — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Belarusian: фістула (fistula) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Belarusian: свішч (svišč) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Breton: fic'h — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Bulgarian: фистула (fistula) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Catalan: fístula — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Cherokee: ᎩᏍᏚᎳ (gisdula) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Chinese Mandarin: 瘺管 /瘘管 (lòuguǎn) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Czech: píštěl — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Danish: fistel — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Dutch: fistel — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Esperanto: fistulo — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Finnish: fisteli — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Finnish: fistula — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • French: fistule — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Friulian: fìstule — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Georgian: ფისტულა (pisṭula) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • German: Fistel — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Greek: συρίγγιο (syríngio) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Hebrew: פִיסְטוּלָה — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Hindi: भगन्दर (bhagandar) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Hungarian: fisztula — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Hungarian: sipoly — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Icelandic: fistill — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Ido: fistulo — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Indonesian: hiliran — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Irish: fiostúl — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Italian: fistola — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Japanese: 瘻孔 (rōkō) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Kannada: ಫಿಸ್ಟುಲಾ (phisṭulā) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Kazakh: жыланкөз (jylanköz) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Korean: 누공 (nugong) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Latin: fistula — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Latvian: fistula — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Lithuanian: fistulė — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Luxembourgish: Fistel — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Malayalam: ഭഗന്ദരം (bhagandaraṁ) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Manx: sheane — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Nepali: फिस्टुला (phisṭulā) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fistel — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: fistel — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Occitan: fistula — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Polish: przetoka — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Polish: fistuła — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Portuguese: fístula — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Punjabi: ਫਿਸਤੁਲਾ (phistulā) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Romanian: fistulă — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Romansh: fistla — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Russian: фи́стула (fístula) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Russian: свищ (svišč) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Serbo-Croatian: фи̏стула — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Serbo-Croatian: fȉstula — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Slovak: fistula — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Slovene: fistula — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Lower Sorbian: fistla — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Upper Sorbian: fistla — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Spanish: fístula — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Swahili: nasuri — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Swedish: fistel — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Turkish: fistül — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Turkish: akarca — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Ukrainian: фістула (fistula) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Ukrainian: свищ (svyšč) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Ukrainian: нориця (norycja) — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Vietnamese: rò — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Welsh: ffistwla — abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels
  • Finnish: putki — tube, pipe, or a hole
  • Finnish: yhde — tube, pipe, or a hole
  • Finnish: fistula — tube, pipe, or a hole
  • Latin: fistula — tube, pipe, or a hole
  • Spanish: fístula — tube, pipe, or a hole