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neural

American  
[noor-uhl, nyoor-] / ˈnʊər əl, ˈnyʊər- /

adjective

  1. of or relating to a nerve or the nervous system.


neural British  
/ ˈnjʊərəl /

adjective

  1. of or relating to a nerve or the nervous system

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

neural Scientific  
/ nrəl /
  1. Relating to the nerves or nervous system.


Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of neural

First recorded in 1830–40; neur- + -al 1

Explanation

Something described as neural has to do with your body's nervous system, particularly your nerves. When you stub your toe, a neural signal is sent to your brain to tell you how much it hurts. The word neural has a Greek root, neuron, or "nerve." This scientific term is sometimes used interchangeably with neurological for anything connected with the entire nervous system. Neural pathways describe the route messages take through your nerves and spinal cord to your brain, and a neural disorder is an ailment that affects that part of your body.

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Vocabulary lists containing neural

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The A19 chip is built on a next-generation 3-nanometer process and features a new 16-core Neural Engine paired with dedicated “Neural Accelerators” integrated into each GPU core, according to Apple.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 2, 2026

H.L. is the chief scientist of Neural Galaxy Inc. L.L. serves on the scientific advisory board for Beijing Pins Medical Co.,

From Science Daily • Feb. 8, 2026

For years, the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems—everyone just calls it NeurIPS—was attended by only the most dedicated scientists on the frontier of artificial intelligence.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 20, 2025

David Chalmers – Professor of Philosophy and Neural Science at New York University – defined the distinction between real and apparent consciousness at a conference in Tucson, Arizona in 1994.

From BBC • May 25, 2025

Neural pathways, not all established at birth, 217.

From Being Well-Born An Introduction to Eugenics by Guyer, Michael F.