Plural of auricula; small ear-shaped structures, often referring to a type of primrose plant with distinctive ear-like lobes on its leaves.
From Latin auricula, meaning 'little ear,' a diminutive of auris. The term was applied to the primrose plant because its leaves resemble tiny ears, a naming convention called 'doctrine of signatures' in herbalism.
Renaissance herbalists named this plant auricula because they believed plants shaped like body parts could heal those parts—so an 'ear-shaped' plant must be good for hearing, even though that's not how medicine actually works!
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