nerve cord

American  

noun

1. a single hollow tract of nervous tissue that constitutes the central nervous system of chordates and develops into the spinal cord and brain in vertebrates.

2. a solid double strand of nerve fibers along the length of the body in elongate invertebrates, as earthworms and insects, connecting with a pair of nerve ganglia at each body segment.

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Etymology

Origin of nerve cord

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nerve cord

The new map of neural connections, known as a connectome, extends a previously published fruit fly brain connectome by adding the fly's spinal cord equivalent, called the nerve cord.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 10, 2026

The finished connectome shows how each neuron connects with other neurons in the brain and nerve cord at the level of individual synapses.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 10, 2026

At the same time, Lee and his colleagues were building a connectome of the fruit fly nerve cord, which controls the legs, wings, and other appendages while also processing sensory information.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 10, 2026

The characteristic features of Chordata are a notochord, a dorsal hollow nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, and a post-anal tail.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 25, 2013

Sometimes, indeed, the two sets of filaments are combined into one nerve cord, but if traced to their origin these are found to arise from different brain centres.

From A History of Science — Volume 4 by Williams, Henry Smith