white matter

American  

noun

Anatomy.

1. nerve tissue, especially of the brain and spinal cord, which primarily contains myelinated fibers and is nearly white in color.

---

white matter British  

noun

1. Technical name: substantia alba.  the whitish tissue of the brain and spinal cord, consisting mainly of myelinated nerve fibres Compare grey matter

---

white matter Scientific  

1. The whitish tissue of the vertebrate brain and spinal cord, made up chiefly of nerve fibers (axons) covered in myelin sheaths.

2. Compare gray matter

---

Etymology

Origin of white matter

First recorded in 1830–40

Compare meaning

How does white-matter compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• gray matter vs. white matter

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

white matter

They also showed greater volumes of white matter hyperintensities, which are signs of cerebral small blood vessel disease and have been linked to cognitive decline and dementia.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026

Using the MRI scans, they measured the volume of gray matter and white matter in each participant's brain while accounting for differences in overall brain size.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 1, 2026

A recent major study assessed efficiency of brain networks, essentially how the brain is wired, through white matter topology.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 19, 2026

"The brain achieves this by leveraging its white matter connectivity to share information across regions, and this integration is crucial for human behavior."

From Science Daily ● Jan. 3, 2026

Cerebral abscess is much more frequently met with in the white matter of the centrum ovale than in the cortex, and in the majority of cases the abscess is single.

From Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. by Miles, Alexander