notochord
noun
Forms notochords
- noun A flexible rodlike structure that forms the main support of the body in the lowest chordates; a primitive spine.
- noun A similar structure found in the embryos of vertebrates from which the spine develops.
Etymology
From noto- + chord.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An elastic cartilagelike rod which is developed beneath the medullary groove in the vertebrate embryo, and constitutes the primitive axial skeleton around which the centra of the vertebræ and the posterior part of the base of the skull are developed; the chorda dorsalis. See Illust. of Ectoderm.
Etymology [Gr. chord.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “notochord”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details