olivary

[ol-uh-ver-ee]

adjective

1. shaped like an olive.

2. of or relating to an olivary body

olivary

/ ˈɒlɪvərɪ /

adjective

1. shaped like an olive

2. anatomy of or relating to either of two masses of tissue ( olivary bodies ) on the forward portion of the medulla oblongata

Other Word Forms

• interolivary adjective
• postolivary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of olivary¹

First recorded in 1535–45, olivary is from the Latin word olīvārius belonging to olives. See olive, -ary

Word History and Origins

Origin of olivary¹

C16: from Latin olivārius, from oliva _olive

Example Sentences

On transverse sections no difference between the olivary nuclei beyond that which occurs in healthy persons could be found; the asymmetry was ascertainably one of prominence only.

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The olivary bodies were asymmetrical, the right one being flatter and smoother than the left.

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All these three bundles appear to be continued up into the cerebellum as the restiform bodies or inferior cerebellar peduncles, but really the continuity is very slight, as the restiform bodies are formed from the direct cerebellar tracts of the spinal cord joining with the superficial arcuate fibres which curve back just below the olivary bodies.

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To the side of the pyramid, and separated from it by a faint fissure, is the olivary fasciculus, which at its upper end is elevated into the projecting oval-shaped olivary body.

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External to and behind the pyramid is the crenated section of the olivary nucleus, the surface bulging of which forms the olivary body.

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