Ampulla

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (n.) A cruet for the wine and water at Mass.

(2): (n.) A narrow-necked vessel having two handles and bellying out like a jug.

(3): (n.) Any membranous bag shaped like a leathern bottle, as the dilated end of a vessel or duct; especially the dilations of the semicircular canals of the ear.

(4): (n.) The vase in which the holy oil for chrism, unction, or coronation is kept.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

1. the name, among Roman ecclesiastical writers, of one of the vessels used at the altar to hold the wine.

2. The vessel for holding the oil in chrismation, consecration, coronation, etc., which frequently appears in the inventory of church furniture, was also called Ampulla. The ampulla is used in the coronation of the sovereigns of England.