temporal summation

noun

See under summation.

Origin of temporal summation

First recorded in 1945–50

summation

[suh-mey-shuh n]

noun

the act or process of summing.

the result of this; an aggregate or total.

a review or recapitulation of previously stated facts or statements, often with a final conclusion or conclusions drawn from them.

Law. the final arguments of opposing attorneys before a case goes to the jury.

Physiology. the arousal of impulses by a rapid succession of stimuli, carried either by separate sensory neurons (spatial summation) or by the same sensory neuron (temporal summation).

Origin of summation

1750–60; < Medieval Latin summātiōn- (stem of summātiō), equivalent to summāt(us) (past participle of summāre to sum; see -ate¹) + -iōn- -ion

Related formssum·ma·tion·al, adjective

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

British Dictionary definitions for temporal summation

summation

noun

the act or process of determining a sum; addition

the result of such an act or process

a summary

US law the concluding statements made by opposing counsel in a case before a court

Derived Formssummational, adjectivesummative, adjective

Word Origin for summation

C18: from Medieval Latin summātiō, from summāre to total, from Latin summa sum 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for temporal summation

summation

1760, from Modern Latin summationem (nominative summatio) "an adding up," from Late Latin summatus, past participle of summare "to sum up," from Latin summa (see sum).

temporal summation in Medicine

summation

[sə-mā′shən]

n.

The process by which multiple or repeated stimuli can produce a response in a nerve, muscle, or other part that one stimulus alone cannot produce.