dura mater
UK /ˌdjʊə.ɹə ˈmeɪ.tə/ · US /ˈd(j)ʊɹ.ə ˌmeɪ.tɚ/ noun
Forms durae matres dura maters dura
- noun (anatomy) The tough and inflexible outermost of the three layers of the meninges, enveloping the brain and spinal cord.
Synonyms
Etymology
First attested c. 1400, borrowing from Medieval Latin dūra māter (literally “firm, strict mother”), ellipsis of dūra māter cerebrī (literally “hard mother of the brain”), calque of Arabic أُمّ الدِّمَاغ الصَفِيقَة (ʔumm al-ddimāḡ aṣ-ṣafīqa, literally “thick mother of the brain”).
Webster’s 1913
- The tough, fibrous membrane, which lines the cavity of the skull and spinal column, and surrounds the brain and spinal cord; --frequently abbreviated to dura.
Etymology [L., lit., hard mother. The membrane was called mater, or mother, because it was formerly thought to give rise to every membrane of the body.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “dura mater”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details