dorsal

[dawr-suh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dorsal ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of, relating to, or situated at the back, or dorsum.

Anatomy, Zoology.

situated on or toward the upper side of the body, equivalent to the back, or posterior, in humans.
situated on or toward the posterior plane in humans or toward the upper plane in quadrupeds.

Compare ventral(def 2).

Botany. pertaining to the surface away from the axis, as of a leaf; abaxial.

Phonetics. (of a speech sound) articulated with the dorsum of the tongue.

noun

Phonetics. a dorsal speech sound.

Anatomy. a dorsal structure.

Origin of dorsal

1535–45; < Medieval Latin dorsālis, equivalent to Latin dors(um) back + -ālis -al¹

Related formsdor·sal·ly, adverb

dorsal

[dawr-suh l]

noun

dossal(def 1).

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for dorsal

behind, last, back, hind, hinder, reverse, rearward, posterior, tail, stern, following, postern, mizzen, hand, vane, appendage, pinna, stabilizer, flipper, airfoil

Examples from the Web for dorsal

Contemporary Examples of dorsal

The first and last lines of Lolita make my dorsal hairs quiver, as Nabokov intended.
Blake Bailey: How I Write
Noah Charney
March 20, 2013
Relatively misshapen and formless, the dorsal figure is perhaps even more expressive of physical torment.
The Shroud of Turin and Thomas de Wesselow’s ‘The Sign.’
Thomas de Wesselow
April 3, 2012

Historical Examples of dorsal

In other cases the eggs are carried in the dorsal pouches of the females.
The Truth About Woman
C. Gasquoine Hartley
He shot off with the bait and his dorsal fin stuck out of the water.
Tales of Fishes
Zane Grey
Just below the dorsal, on the background of gold, was a line of black dots.
Tales of Fishes
Zane Grey
Scutum: the second dorsal sclerite of the meso- and meta-thorax.
Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology
John. B. Smith
A dorsal view of an embryo with about fifteen pairs of somites.
Development of the Digestive Canal of the American Alligator
Albert M. Reese

British Dictionary definitions for dorsal

dorsal

adjective

anatomy zoology relating to the back or spinal part of the bodyCompare ventral (def. 1)

botany of, relating to, or situated on the side of an organ that is directed away from the axis

articulated with the back of the tongue, as the (k) sound in English coot

Derived Formsdorsally, adverb

Word Origin for dorsal

C15: from Medieval Latin dorsālis, from Latin dorsum back

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

Word Origin and History for dorsal

adj.

1540s, from Middle French dorsal (14c.), from Late Latin dorsalis, corresponding to Latin dorsualis "of the back," from dorsum "back," of uncertain origin.

dorsal in Medicine