Library / English Dictionary

AXON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Long nerve fiber that conducts away from the cell body of the neuron

Synonyms:

axon; axone

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("axon" is a kind of...):

nerve fiber; nerve fibre (a threadlike extension of a nerve cell)

Meronyms (parts of "axon"):

nerve end; nerve ending (the terminal structure of an axon that does not end at a synapse)

Holonyms ("axon" is a part of...):

nerve cell; neuron (a cell that is specialized to conduct nerve impulses)

Derivation:

axonal (of or relating to or resembling an axon)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A histologic hallmark of this tumor is the 'specific glioneuronal element', characterized by columns, made up of bundles of axons, oriented perpendicularly to the cortical surface.

(Dysembryoplastic Neuroepithelial Tumor, NCI Thesaurus/Adapted from WHO)

Myelin sheathes cover neuronal axons in the central and peripheral nervous system and function to increase travelling impulse speeds.

(Demyelinating Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)

Electrical recordings and tracing experiments showed that many of the hypothalamic MCH cells sent inhibitory messages, via long stringy axons, to the hippocampus, the brain’s memory center.

(The brain may actively forget during dream sleep, National Institutes of Health)

This allele, which encodes ephrin type-A receptor 4 protein, is involved in nervous system development and may play a role in axon guidance and corticospinal tract development.

(EPHA4 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

This gene plays a role in heparin/heparin sulfate biosynthesis, axon guidance and biogenesis/cell organization.

(EXT1 Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

It is characterized by the presence of abnormally large nerve cell axons.

(Giant Axonal Neuropathy, NCI Thesaurus)

The second layer of the cerebral cortex, composed of many small pyramidal cells and granule cells with short axons.

(External Granular Layer of the Cerebral Cortex, NCI Thesaurus)

A layer of phospholipids and protein found on neuronal axons.

(Myelin Sheath, NCI Thesaurus)

Axons of neurons encased in a lipoproteinaceous material called myelin.

(Myelinated Nerve Fiber, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A neuron consists of a cell body and its processes, an axon and one or more dendrites.

(Neurons, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)