Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CAR'BUN-CLE, n. [L. carbunculus, a little coal, from carbo.]

1. An anthrax; an inflammatory tumor, or painful gangrenous boil or ulcer. – Coxe. Hooper.
2. A beautiful gem, of a deep red color, with a mixture of scarlet, called by the Greeks anthrax, found in the East Indies. It is found pure, and adhering to a heavy ferruginous stone, of the emery kind. It is usually a quarter of an inch in length, and two-thirds of that in diameter, of an angular figure. When held up to the sun, it loses its deep tinge, and becomes exactly of the color of a burning coal. Encyc. The carbuncle of the ancients is supposed to have been a garnet. – Cleaveland.
3. In heraldry, a charge or bearing consisting of eight radii, four of which make a common cross, and the other four, a saltier. – Encyc.