Main Entry: ampulla of Va·ter

Pronunciation: \-ˈfät-ər\

Function: noun

: a trumpet-mouthed dilatation of the duodenal wall at the opening of the fused pancreatic and common bile ducts—called also papilla of Vater

Vater, Abraham (1684–1751), German anatomist. Vater was a professor of anatomy and botany and later of pathology and therapeutics at Wittenberg. In 1710 he first noted the ampulla that has been named after him, but he did not publish a description of it until 1720. In 1717 he described the terminal capsules of certain sensory nerve fibers. They were later described by the Italian anatomist Filippo Pacini in 1840. Now these corpuscles are more commonly identified with Pacini than with Vater.