myelin

[ mahy-uh-lin ]

/ ˈmaɪ ə lɪn /

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noun Biology.

a soft, white, fatty material in the membrane of Schwann cells and certain neuroglial cells: the substance of the myelin sheath.

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Also my·e·line

[mahy-uh-leen]. /ˈmaɪ əˌlin/.

Origin of myelin

First recorded in 1865–70; myel- + -in²

OTHER WORDS FROM myelin

my·e·lin·ic, adjective

Words nearby myelin

mycovirus, mydriasis, mydriatic, myel-, myelencephalon, myelin, myelinated, myelination, myelin sheath, myelitis, myelo-

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use myelin in a sentence

Some researchers suspect that antiviral treatments would probably make the most sense when used early on, before the immune system eats away at the myelin around the nerve cells.
Multiple sclerosis has a common viral culprit, opening doors to new approaches|Erin Garcia de Jesús|August 11, 2022|Science News
Enteric glia help the gut digest food, for instance, and a type of glia called Schwann cells, sisters to the brain’s oligodendrocytes, spread myelin on peripheral nerves to help speed signals along.
Glial cells may take on big jobs in unexpected parts of the body|Laura Sanders|June 2, 2022|Science News
In MS, the amount and quality of myelin is abnormal, replaced by “sclerotic” plaques, the hallmark of the disease.
Can NASCAR Driver Trevor Bayne Race Safely With Multiple Sclerosis?|Kent Sepkowitz|November 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
This loss of usable myelin results in poor nerve-to-nerve coordination, resulting is a slightly haywire main dashboard.
Can NASCAR Driver Trevor Bayne Race Safely With Multiple Sclerosis?|Kent Sepkowitz|November 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Between the neurolemma and the axis cylinder is the medullated sheath, composed of a fatty substance known as myelin.
Manual of Surgery|Alexis Thomson and Alexander Miles
Alveolar cells commonly contain fat-droplets and, less frequently, myelin globules.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd

British Dictionary definitions for myelin

myelin

myeline (ˈmaɪɪˌliːn)

/ (ˈmaɪɪlɪn) /

noun

a white tissue forming an insulating sheath (myelin sheath) around certain nerve fibres. Damage to the myelin sheath causes neurological disease, as in multiple sclerosis

Derived forms of myelin

myelinic, adjective

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

Scientific definitions for myelin

myelin

[ mī′ə-lĭn ]

A whitish, fatty substance that forms a sheath around many vertebrate nerve fibers. Myelin insulates the nerves and permits the rapid transmission of nerve impulses. The white matter of the brain is composed of nerve fibers covered in myelin.