neuron

[ noor-on, nyoor- ]

/ ˈnʊər ɒn, ˈnyʊər- /

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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.

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Also especially British, neu·rone

[noor-ohn, nyoor-]. /ˈnʊər oʊn, ˈnyʊər-/.

Also called nerve cell.

Compare synapse.

Origin of neuron

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

OTHER WORDS FROM neuron

neu·ron·al

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

Words nearby neuron

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use neuron in a sentence

One relies on the neuron, which determines based on input whether it should “fire”—that is, pass on the data to its neighbor.
This ‘Quantum Brain’ Would Mimic Our Own to Speed Up AI|Shelly Fan|February 9, 2021|Singularity Hub
For example, this might arise from the way that huge numbers of neurons organize themselves into groups, which then form larger regions that work together.
Brain’s ‘Background Noise’ May Hold Clues to Persistent Mysteries|Elizabeth Landau|February 8, 2021|Quanta Magazine
Similarly, he introduced the term neuron before scientists had even reached agreement on whether such cells existed.
Top 10 science anniversaries to celebrate in 2021|Tom Siegfried|February 3, 2021|Science News
This holds rather unnerving implications, in that the neurons solely reflect someone else’s specific perspective—your perspective, or the truth, doesn’t come into play.
This Is Where Empathy Lives in the Brain, and How It Works|Shelly Fan|February 2, 2021|Singularity Hub

Deep learning algorithms work by getting layers of artificial neurons to learn increasingly complex features of an image or other data type, which are then used to categorize new data.
How Mirroring the Architecture of the Human Brain Is Speeding Up AI Learning|Edd Gent|January 18, 2021|Singularity Hub
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
Hawking, 71, has been suffering from the debilitating motor neuron disease ALS for half a century.
A Brief History of Hawking’s Boycott|Matthew Kalman|May 8, 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
These are transferred from neuron to neuron through the synapse.
Psychotherapy|James J. Walsh
Even though the peripheral neuron may be suffering to some extent, this is true.
Psychotherapy|James J. Walsh
The contact of the axon of one neuron with the dendrons of another is called a synapse.
Psychotherapy|James J. Walsh
That is not a loss of memory but a failure of neuron connections.
Psychotherapy|James J. Walsh
Every efferent neuron in his system carried the message full power.
The K-Factor|Harry Harrison (AKA Henry Maxwell Dempsey)

Medical definitions for neuron

neuron

[ nur′ŏn′ ]

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

Scientific 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