neuron

[ noo r-on, nyoo r- ]

/ ˈnʊər ɒn, ˈnyʊər- /

noun

Cell Biology. a specialized, impulse-conducting cell that is the functional unit of the nervous system, consisting of the cell body and its processes, the axon and dendrites.

Words nearby neuron

neuromyasthenia, neuromyelitis, neuromyelitis optica, neuromyopathy, neuromyositis, neuron, neuronal, neurone, neuronevus, neuronopathy, neuronophage

Also especially British, neu·rone

[noo r-ohn, nyoo r-] /ˈnʊər oʊn, ˈnyʊər-/.

Compare synapse.

Origin of neuron

First recorded in 1880–85, neuron is from the Greek word neûron sinew, cord, nerve

Also called nerve cell.

OTHER WORDS FROM neuron

neu·ron·al

[noo r-uh-nl, nyoo r-, noo-rohn-l, nyoo-] /ˈnʊər ə nl, ˈnyʊər-, nʊˈroʊn l, nyʊ-/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for neuron

Aren't all facts, at the neuron and synapse level, really the same?
Sorry, Folks, Playing Dots Won’t Make You Smarter|Kent Sepkowitz|June 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The current issue of Neuron features a new study on selective memory erasure.
How to Erase Your Memories|Casey Schwartz|November 7, 2008|DAILY BEAST
Thus the nervous impulse passes from one neuron to the other at these points of contact.
Being Well-Born|Michael F. Guyer
It's merely a matter of altering the normal thresholds of the neuron memory-circuits.
The Ego Machine|Henry Kuttner

The neuron with its outgoing fibres is the unit of the nervous system.
Ontario Normal School Manuals: Science of Education|Ontario Ministry of Education
That is not a loss of memory but a failure of neuron connections.
Psychotherapy|James J. Walsh
Neuron, nū′ron, n. the cerebro-spinal axis in its entirety: a nervure of an insect's wing.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)|Various

Medicine definitions for neuron

neuron

[ nur′ŏn′ ]

n.

Any of the impulse-conducting cells that constitute the brain, spinal column, and nerves, consisting of a nucleated cell body with one or more dendrites and a single axon.nerve cell neurocyte

Science definitions for neuron

neuron

[ nur′ŏn′ ]

A cell of the nervous system. Neurons typically consist of a cell body, which contains a nucleus and receives incoming nerve impulses, and an axon, which carries impulses away from the cell body. Also called nerve cell