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neural

American  
[noor-uhl, nyoor-] / ˈnʊər əl, ˈnyʊər- /

adjective

  1. of or relating to a nerve or the nervous system.


neural British  
/ ˈnjʊərəl /

adjective

  1. of or relating to a nerve or the nervous system

"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

neural Scientific  
/ nrəl /
  1. Relating to the nerves or nervous system.


Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of neural

First recorded in 1830–40; neur- + -al 1

Explanation

Something described as neural has to do with your body's nervous system, particularly your nerves. When you stub your toe, a neural signal is sent to your brain to tell you how much it hurts. The word neural has a Greek root, neuron, or "nerve." This scientific term is sometimes used interchangeably with neurological for anything connected with the entire nervous system. Neural pathways describe the route messages take through your nerves and spinal cord to your brain, and a neural disorder is an ailment that affects that part of your body.

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Vocabulary lists containing neural

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.

All A.I. systems today are built around neural networks, which, despite their fanciful name, are just math formulas.

From Slate • May 25, 2026

And in 2024 researchers at Harvard University developed a neural network model called TxGNN to surface existing drugs which could be used to treat rare conditions.

From BBC • May 22, 2026

"This is now arguably the most sequenced neural tissue ever, but we needed that scale of data in order to understand the system," Datta said.

From Science Daily • Apr. 30, 2026

With these techniques, researchers can now pinpoint the exact neural pathways involved in complex conditions like chronic pain.

From Science Daily • Apr. 27, 2026

Dr. Strayer and others developed a hypothesis that these people “are extremely good at neural efficiency.”

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

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