NEUROANATOMY TERMINOLOGY
FIBRES , STRING , ROPES
| fibres | |
|---|---|
| tract | borrowed from Latin tractus, the perfect passive participle of trahō. = pull |
| fasciculus | Diminutive of fascis (“bundle”) |
| fibre | from Latin fibra. |
| filum | From Latin fīlum (“thread”). |
| commisure | From con- + mittō (“send”) |
| chiasm | from Ancient Greek χιασμός (khiasmos crossing, diagonal arrangement) |
| decussation | Ancient Greek δέκα (déka) |
| peduncle | From Late Latin pedunculus, from pedis, genitive of pēs (“foot”) |
| lamina | from Latin lāmina (“a thin piece of metal, wood, marble; a plate, leaf, layer”) |
| arcuate | Perfect passive participle of arcuō, from arcus (“bow”) |
| association | From ad- + sociō (“unite together; associate”) |
| stria | Borrowed from Latin stria (“furrow”) |
| mossy | Latin muscus (“moss”) |
| sympathetic | from Ancient Greek σῠμπᾰ́θειᾰ (sumpátheia, “fellow feeling”), |
| synapse | from Ancient Greek σύναψις (súnapsis, “conjunction”), from συνάπτω (sunáptō, “to clasp”). |
MESH , NET
| net – | |
|---|---|
| trabeculae | From Latin trabēcula (“small beam”), diminutive of trabs (“beam, timber”) |
| reticulum | From rēte (“net, snare”) + -culum (diminutive suffix). |
| plexus | Borrowed from Latin plexus (“a twining, plaiting, braid”). |
| arachnoid | from ᾰ̓ρᾰ́χνη (arákhnē, “spider web”) + -ο- (-o-) + -ειδής (-eidḗs, “-oid, -like”). |
| mesh | Akin to Old High German māsca (“mesh”) |
| trunk | |
ROOM , CHAMBER
WALL , SEPTUM , PARTITION
| wall | |
|---|---|
| septum | from Latin sēptum (“enclosure, wall, fence”) |
CONVEX
| elevation- | |
|---|---|
| tubercle | From tuber (“hump, bump, swelling, protuberance; excrescence”) |
| amygdala | from Latin amygdala (“almond”), |
| nucleus | from Latin nucleus (“kernel, core”), a diminutive of nux (“nut”) |
| ganglion | from Ancient Greek γᾰγγλῐ́ον (ganglíon, “encysted tumour on a tendon or aponeurosis”) |
| bulb | from Latin bulbus (“bulb, onion”), |
| emboliform | From Ancient Greek ἔμβολος (émbolos, “peg, stopper”) + -form, from ἐμβάλλω (embállō, “to lay or put in”) + -ος (-os, nominal suffix) |
| globose | From Latin globosus (“round as a ball, spherical, globular”) |
| flocculus | Borrowed from Latin floccus.- wool |
| corpus | Borrowed from Latin corpus (“body”). |
| ganglion | Borrowed from Ancient Greek γᾰγγλῐ́ον (ganglíon, “encysted tumour on a tendon or aponeurosis”) |
| globus | Cognate with Latin glaeba, glomus, Sanskrit ग्लुन्थ (gluntha, “lump”) |
| olivary | Ancient Greek ἐλαία (elaía)) - olive |
| pallidus | From palleō + -idus. - pale |
SHARP CONVEX
| spinal | from spīna (“a prickle, spine”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix) |
| dentate | From dēns (“tooth”) + -ātus. |
END
| end- | |
|---|---|
| terminale | from Proto-Indo-European *térmn̥ (“boundary”) |
| cauda | Vulgar Latin cōda (the source of all other Romance forms) |
COVER , ROOF
| cover– | |
|---|---|
| tela | Borrowed from Latin tēla (“web”) |
| tentorium | from Latin tentorium, literally ‘tent’. |
| choroid | from χόριον (khórion, “membrane that encloses the fetus in the womb, afterbirth”) + -ειδής (-eidḗs, “-like”). |
| cortex | From Latin cortex (“cork, bark”). |
| ependyma | from ἐπι- (epi-, “on, over”) + ἐνδύνω (endúnō, “I put on (clothes)”). |
| mater | From Latin māter (“mother”), |
| meninges | from Ancient Greek μῆνῐγξ (mêninx, “membrane of the eye; membrane enclosing the brain; eardrum”). |
| matter | from Latin materia (“matter, stuff, material”), from mater (“mother”). |
BRANCH
| branch | |
|---|---|
| limb | from Proto-Germanic *limuz (“branch, limb”). |
| limbic | from Proto-Germanic *limuz (“branch, limb”). |
| radiata , radiation | radiare (“to radiate, furnish with spokes |
| ramus | from Latin rāmus (“branch”). |
CONCAVE
TOP
BASE
COLUMN , BAR , PILLAR
| gracile | Latin gracilis (“slender, slim, thin |
| column | a collateral form of columen, contraction culmen (“a pillar, top, crown, summit” |
| axon | From Ancient Greek ἄξων (áxōn, “axis”). |
HOLE
SUTURE
| raphe | from Ancient Greek ῥᾰφή (rhaphḗ, “seam; suture”). |
| accumbens | accumbō (“lie down somewhere; recline at table”) |
| autonomic | from αὐτο- (auto-, “self”) + νόμος (nómos, “usage, custom; law, ordinance”) |
| calcarine | From the Latin (fornāx) calcāria (“(furnace) designed for burning lime”) |
| callosum | From callum (“hardened skin”) + -ōsus. |
| basal | from Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis). |
| caudate | From the Medieval Latin caudātus, from the Classical Latin cauda (“tail”). |
| sulcus | Borrowed from Latin sulcus (“a furrow made by a plow”) |
| cell body | |
| cerebellum | From cerebrum (“a brain”) + -lus (diminutive nominal suffix). |
| cerebrum | Ancient Greek κᾰ́ρᾱ (kárā, “a head, face”). |
| conus | from Latin conus (“cone, wedge, peak”) |
| cord | Ancient Greek χορδά (khordá, “string of gut, the string of a lyre”) |
| cuneate | From cuneus (“wedge”) |
| dendrites | Ancient Greek δένδρον (déndron, “tree”). |
| equina | From Latin equīnus. , cognate with Ancient Greek ἵππος (híppos |
| falx | From Latin falx (“sickle”) |
| funiculus | From Latin funiculus, diminutive of funis (“rope, cord”) |
| genu | Borrowed from Latin genu (“knee”). |
| glia | γλοιός (gloiós, “a glutinous substance, gum”) |
| granulations | Borrowed from Late Latin granulum, diminutive of Latin granum (“grain”) |
| gyrus | From Latin gȳrus (“circle”), from Ancient Greek γῦρος (gûros). |
| hippocampus | from ῐ̔́ππος (híppos, “horse”) + κάμπος (kámpos, “sea-monster”). |
| horn | Latin cornū, Ancient Greek κέρας (kéras) |
| lentiform | From lent-, stem of Latin lens + -iform. , Ancient Greek λάθυρος (láthuros). |
| medulla | Borrowed from Latin medulla (“pith, marrow”), perhaps from medius (“middle”) |
| nerve | from Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron, “nerve”). Doublet of nerve and sinew. |
| neuron | from Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron, “nerve”). Doublet of nerve and sinew. |
| phrenic | from Ancient Greek φρήν (phrḗn, “diaphragm”). |
| pons | Borrowed from Latin pōns (“bridge”). Doublet of Pontus. |
| purkinje | |
| reflex | From Late Latin reflexus, past participle of reflectere (“to bend back”) |
| root | cognate with wort, radish, and radix. |
| midbrain | |
| rhombencephalon | From rhomb + encephalon. , From ῥέμβω (rhémbō, “I turn”). |
| metencephalon | meta- + encephalon |
| encephalon | from ἐν (en, “in”) + κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”). |
| myelencephalon | myelo- + encephalon , From Ancient Greek μυελός (muelós, “marrow”). |
| vestibular | from Latin vestibulum (“a forecourt, entrance court; an entrance”). |
Discussion