notochord

American  

[noh-tuh-kawrd] / ˈnoʊ təˌkɔrd /

noun

Embryology.

1. a rodlike cord of cells that forms the chief axial supporting structure of the body of the lower chordates, as amphioxus and the cyclostomes, and of the embryos of the vertebrates.

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notochord British  

/ ˈnəʊtəˌkɔːd /

noun

1. a fibrous longitudinal rod in all embryo and some adult chordate animals, immediately above the gut, that supports the body. It is replaced in adult vertebrates by the vertebral column

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notochord Scientific  

/ nō′tə-kôrd′ /

1. A flexible rodlike structure that forms the main support of the body in all chordates during some stage of their development. In vertebrates, the notochord develops into a true backbone in the embryonic phase. Primitive chordates, such as lancelets and tunicates, retain a notochord throughout their lives.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subnotochordal
  adjective
• notochordal
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of notochord

First recorded in 1840–50; noto- + chord ¹ 5 (in the sense of “a cordlike anatomical structure”)

Example Sentences

Yes, according to Osaka Metropolitan University researchers, who found that suppression of Pcdh8 is essential for the notochord to elongate properly in zebrafish.

From Science Daily • Nov. 21, 2024

One of the major stations is the notochord, which produces a signal that plays a crucial role in organizing the developing spinal cord.

From Science Daily • Jan. 2, 2024

Ogden's team captured images of the transport process happening in the cytonemes originating from the notochord.

From Science Daily • Jan. 2, 2024

The notochord extends into the head, which gives the subphylum its name.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

The two pleurocentra of each vertebra are separate ventrally as well as dorsally, but form thin, broad plates of about the same height as the notochord.

From A New Order of Fishlike Amphibia From the Pennsylvanian of Kansas by Eaton, Theodore H. (Theodore Hildreth)