nerve root

American  

[nurv root, root] / ˈnɜrv ˌrut, ˌrʊt /

noun

Anatomy.

1. a nerve fiber bundle that emerges from either side of the spinal cord and joins with a complementary bundle to form each spinal nerve in the series of spinal nerves: the root at the rear of the spinal cord dorsal root, or sensory root conveys sensations to the central nervous system, and the root at the front ventral root, or motor root conveys impulses to the muscles.

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Etymology

Origin of nerve root

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

It’s different when a diseased disk compresses the spinal cord or nerve root enough to cause specific symptoms, such as pain or weakness along the affected nerve’s territory, typically the leg or the arm.

From The New Yorker • May 4, 2015

He played in only 15 games last season with nerve root irritation, but hoped for a comeback season after several months of rehabilitation.

From Washington Times • Oct. 24, 2014

These ganglia are the cell bodies of neurons with axons that are sensory endings in the periphery, such as in the skin, and that extend into the CNS through the dorsal nerve root.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

The motor fibers, both somatic and autonomic, emerge as the ventral nerve root.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

Similar bundles of motor fibers in the form of a motor nerve root emerge from the cord at the same level.

From The Mind and Its Education by Betts, George Herbert