Prefixes to Commonly Used Terms in Neuroscience |
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PREFIX MEANING ab- away from acou- hear act- do, act ad-, aff- to aden- gland aer- air, gas alg- pain alve- tough ambi- both sides andr- man angi- blood vessel, duct ante- before anti- against, counter arachn- spider arch- beginning, origin arthr- joint articul- joint audi- hearing aur- ear ax-, axon- axis bar- weight bi- two, double blast- bud brachi- arm brady- slow capit- head cata- down caud- tail cell- cell, room centr- center cephal- head cerv- neck chord- string, cord chro- color chron- time contra- against, counter corpus- body crani- skull cry- cold cut- skin dendr- tree dent- tooth derm- skin dors- back dys- bad, improper |
PREFIX MEANING ect- outside electr- amber encephal- brain end- inside epi- upon, after esthe- feel, perceive eu- good, normal exo- outside extra- outside of, beyond fibr- fibrous, fibers glom- little ball gloss- tongue graph- write, scratch hemi- half hyper- above, beyond, extreme hypno- sleep hypo- below, under inflamm- setting on fire infra- beneath inter- among, between intra- inside lingu- tongue medi- middle mega- large meningo- membrane mes- middle meta- beyond micro- small multi- many ophthalm- eye para- beside, beyond peri- around phag- eat phon- sound phot- light poly- many proprio- self, one's own resti- rope retro- backwards somat- body spondyl - vertebra sub- under, below supra- above syringo- pipe, tube tel- end |
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| Please send additions to this list to me at:chudler@u.washington.edu. | ||
Neuroanatomical, Neurophysiological and Neuropsychological Terminology
| This table lists the original Greek and Latin meanings of neuroscience words. Most of the words are neuroanatomical terms, but neurological symptoms and disorders are also included. | |
WORD MEANINGabducens…..drawing away ablation…..carrying away acetylcholine…..vinegar bile adrenalin…..near the kidney afferent…..to carry agnosia…..no knowledge alar…..wing-like alexia…..no words alveus…..canal amacrine…..no long fiber ambidextrous…..both right ambiguus…..doubtful amblyopia…..dull vision amnesia…..forgetfulness ampulla…..small bottle amygdala…..almond analgesia…..no pain aneurysm…..widening anesthesia…..no sensation ansa…..urn handle antitoxin…..against poison aphagia…..no eat aphasia…..no speech aqueduct…..water canal arachnoid…..spider web-like arbor vitae…..tree of life arcuate n……bow shaped astigmatism…..not a point astrocyte…..star-like cell ataxia…..not orderly atrophy…..want of nourishment auditory…..to hear aura…..breath, breeze auricle…..a little ear autonomic…..self law axon…..axis, axle basilar…..base bouton…..button brachium…..arm bregma…..front of the head calcarine…..spur-shaped callosum…..hard, tough cannula…..reed carotid…..to put to sleep cataplexy…..down stroke, seizure catatonia…..down tone cauda…..tail cauda equina…..horse tail caudate…..tail causalgia…..burning pain cenereum…..ash gray cephalic…..head cerebellum…..little brain cerebrum…..brain ceruleus…..blue cerumen…..wax cervical…..neck chiasm…..a crossing chorea…..to dance choroid…..like a membrane ciliary…..eyelash cinereum…..ashen-hued cingulum…..girdle or belt circadian…..about a day cistern…..reservior or well claustrum…..barrier coccyx…..cuckoo cochlea…..snail shell colliculus…..little hill conscious…..aware conus…..cone or peg coma…..deep sleep commissure…..joining together conjunctivum…..join convolution…..a turn, a folding convulsion…..pulling together cornu…..horn corona…..crown corpus…..body cortex…..bark, shell, outer layer cribiform…..sieve-like crista…..crest cruciate…..cross-shaped crus…..leg culmen…..ridge, summit cuneate…..wedge cupula…..little tub decussation…..crossing dementia…..away from mind dendrite…..tree dentate…..notched dura…..hard dyskinesia…..improper motion edema…..swelling efferent….carry out (away) emboliform…..plug-like encephalitis…..brain inflammation encephalogram…..brain writing ependyma…..upper garment epilepsy…..seizure ethmoid…..sieve-like falx…..sickle fasciculus…..little bundle femoral…..thigh filum…..thread fimbria…..fringe fissure…..cleft or slit flocculus…..tuft of wool folium…..leaf foramen…..opening fornix…..arch fossa…..trench, channel fovea…..pit, depression fundus…..bottom funiculus…..little cord fusiform…..spindle-shaped ganglion…..knot, swelling genu…..knee geniculate…..bent like a knee glabrous…..bald gland…..acorn glia…..glue globus pallidus…..pale ball glossal…..tongue gracile…..slender gyrus…..ring, circle habenula…..rein hallucination…..to wander in the mind hemorrhage…..to burst forth with blood hippocampus…..sea horse hypnosis…..sleep hypoglossal…..under the tongue hypophysis…..down growth hypothalamus….under thalamus incus…..anvil infundibulum…..funnel insula…..island iris…..rainbow lamina…..layer, thin plate lemniscus…..woolen band or filet lens…..lentil lenticular…..shaped like a lens limbic…..border, hem, fringe lingula…..little tongue lumbar…..pertaining to the loins macula…..spot malleus…..hammer mater (dura)…..mother medulla…..innermost, marrow melanin…..black meninges…..membrane meningitis…..membrane inflammation microglia…..small glue myelin…..marrow myopia…..to shut eye narcolepsy…..numbness seizure narcotic…..benumbing, deadening neuron…..nerve node…..knot nucleus…..nut obex…..barrier oblongata…..rather long oculomotor…..eye movement oligodendrocyte…..few tree cell operculus…..cover, lid optic…..for sight oscilloscope…..to examine swinging pallidus…..pale paralysis…..to loosen paranoia…..mind beside itself parietal…..wall patella…..little plate peduncle…..stemlike pellucidum…..translucent pia…..soft pineal…..pine cone pinna….wing piriform…..pear-shaped pituitary…..slime, mucous placebo…..to please plexus…..a braid pons…..bridge potential…..power pterygoid…..wing-shaped pulp…..flesh pulvinar…..cushion, pillow, couch pupil…..doll, little girl putamen…..shell pyramis…..pyramid pyriform…..pear-shaped quadrigemina…..four twins rabies…..to rage ramus…..branch raphe…..seam rectus…..straight restiform…..rope-like reticular…..net-like rhodopsin…..rose eye rostral…..beak rubro…..red sacral…..sacred, holy sagittal…..arrow schizophrenia…..split mind sclera…..hard sella turcica…..Turkish saddle semilunar…..half moon serotonin…..blood stretching septum…..wall, partition sinus…..a hollow soma…..body somnambulism…..sleep walk somniloquism…..sleep speak (talk) spine…..thorn splenium…..bandage stapes…..stirrup stellate…..star stimulate…..to goad striated…..striped substantia nigra…..black substance sulcus…..groove, trench, furrow synapse…..connection synesthesia…..together perception tapetum…..carpet tectum…..roof tegmentum…..covering temporal…..time tentorium…..tent thalamus…..inner chamber thoracic…..chest trabecula…..little beam tremor….to shake trigeminal…..three twins trochlear…..pulley tubercle…..swelling uncus…..hook vagus…..wandering velum…..covering ventricle…..small cavity vermis…..worm vertex…..top, summit vesicle…..blister, bladder vitreous…..glassy |
REVIEW
[See all words and meanings in a PDF file.] |
Please send me additions to this list at: chudler@u.washington.edu
faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neuropre.html/
faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neuroroot.html/