in antiquity, a round big-bellied vessel which the ancients used in their baths, to contain oil for anointing their bodies; also the name of a cup for drinking out of at table.

among ecclesiastical writers, denotes one of the sacred vessels used at the altars. Ampullae were also used for holding the oil used in chrismation, consecration, coronation, &c. Among the ornaments of churches we find frequent mention made of ampuls or vials. In the inventory of the cathedral of Lincoln we meet with ampuls of crystal, variously enriched with silver feet and covers; one containing a tooth of St Christopher, another a tooth of St Cecily, another a bone of the head of St John Baptist.

Knights of St AMPULLA, belong to an order instituted by Clovis I, king of France; at the coronation they bear up the canopy under which the ampulla is carried in procession.