funiculus
UK /fjʊˈnɪk.jʊl.əs/ · US /fjʊˈnɪk.jəl.əs/ noun
Forms funiculi
- noun (anatomy) Any of several cordlike structures, especially the umbilical cord, or a bundle of nerve fibres (white matter) in the spinal cord. The white matter of the spinal cord is made of (posterior, anterior and lateral) columns/funiculi. The grey columns are also called horns but not funiculi.
- noun (botany) A stalk that connects the seed (or ovule) with the placenta. “The elaiosome emerges from the funiculus.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From Latin funiculus, diminutive of funis (“rope, cord”) + -culus.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A cord, baud, or bundle of fibers; esp., one of the small bundles of fibers, of which large nerves are made up; applied also to different bands of white matter in the brain and spinal cord.
- noun (a) A short cord which connects the embryo of some myriapods with the amnion.
Etymology [L., a little cord. See Funicle.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “funiculus”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details