optic nerve

American  

noun

Anatomy.

1. either one of the second pair of cranial nerves, consisting of sensory fibers that conduct impulses from the retina to the brain.

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optic nerve British  

noun

1. the second cranial nerve, which provides a sensory pathway from the retina to the brain

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optic nerve Scientific  

1. Either of the second pair of cranial nerves, which carry sensory information relating to vision from the retina of the eye to the brain. Disease or injury of the optic nerve can result in partial or total blindness.

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optic nerve Cultural  

1. The nerve that carries electrical signals from the retina in the eye to the brain.

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Etymology

Origin of optic nerve

First recorded in 1605–15

Example Sentences

After a week getting steroids and pain medicine at Providence St. John’s Medical Center in Santa Monica, he received the biopsy results: an extremely aggressive malignant mass was blocking blood flow to Duong’s optic nerve.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

Those signals travel through nerve cells at the back of the eye and then through the optic nerve to the brain, where images are formed.

From Science Daily • Mar. 2, 2026

It is caused by the deterioration of of the optic nerve and causes progressive and irreversible sight loss in both eyes.

From BBC • Jan. 2, 2026

Around 2014, though, Munger experienced a problem in the optic nerve of his right eye.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025

Every secret of the body was rendered up—bone risen through flesh, sacrilegious glimpses of an intestine or an optic nerve.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan