dorsum
Americannoun
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dorsa
plural
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the back, as of the body.
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the back or outer surface of an organ, part, etc.
noun
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a technical name for the back 1
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any analogous surface
the dorsum of the hand
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of dorsum
Borrowed into English from Latin around 1775–85
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.
See Examples For:
The dorsum nasi is the length of the nose.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
Septal cartilage is flexible hyaline cartilage connected to the nasal bone, forming the dorsum nasi.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
In some specimens the dorsum is nearly uniform pale green or tan with a few small, dark spots.
From Neotropical Hylid Frogs, Genus Smilisca by William E. Duellman
The streaked brown dorsum, combined with the lizards' habit of pressing the body against the trunks of trees, make this anole especially difficult to see.
From Amphibians and Reptiles of the Rainforests of Southern El Peten, Guatemala by William E. Duellman
The dorsum is brown with dark brown blotches separated middorsally by a narrow orange-tan stripe extending from the nape to the base of the tail.
From Amphibians and Reptiles of the Rainforests of Southern El Peten, Guatemala by William E. Duellman
Axons and cell bodies in the dorsa spinal cord convey mostly sensory information from the body to the brain.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 25, 2013
Under this Rule, some nouns suffer a syncope; as, dorus m. a door, n. p. dorsa for dorusa.
From Elements of Gaelic Grammar by Alexander Stewart
Looking eastward the land smoothens, the dorsa fall more gently towards the counter-slope, and there are none of the "Morros" which we have traversed.
From Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 2 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
