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Anatomy & Physiology vocabulary · Nervous and Endocrine Systems

Nerve

Meaning in anatomy & physiology, with examples

/nɜːrv/nounCore term

In anatomy & physiology, nerve means: A cord-like bundle of nerve fibers (axons) that carries electrical signals between the brain or spinal cord and other parts of the body.

In Turkish: sinir

How it is used

Nerves are sensory, motor or mixed. Students must know the 12 pairs of cranial nerves and major nerves such as the sciatic, median and ulnar nerves. Clinicians talk about nerve damage, a trapped nerve and the nerve supply of a muscle.

Example sentences

  1. The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the body.

  2. The ulnar nerve passes behind the elbow, which is why hitting it there hurts so much.

Common collocations

  • cranial nerve
  • spinal nerve
  • nerve damage
  • nerve supply
  • trapped nerve
  • neuronA nerve cell: the basic unit of the nervous system that sends and receives electrical and chemical signals. It has a cell body, dendrites that receive signals and an axon that passes them on.
  • spinal cordThe long bundle of nerve tissue that runs down from the brain inside the vertebral column. It carries signals between the brain and the body and controls simple reflexes.
  • nervous systemThe network of the brain, spinal cord and nerves that receives information, processes it and controls the body's responses by sending electrical signals.
  • synapseThe junction where a nerve cell passes a signal to another nerve cell, a muscle cell or a gland cell, usually by releasing chemical messengers called neurotransmitters.

More terms: Nervous and Endocrine Systems

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.