Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The outer layer of an internal organ or body structure, as of the kidney or adrenal gland.
  • noun The outer layer of gray matter that covers the surface of the cerebral hemisphere.
  • noun Botany The region of tissue in a root or stem lying between the epidermis and the vascular tissue.
  • noun An external layer, such as bark or rind.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The peridium of fungi.
  • noun In botany: Bark, as of a tree. See bark.
  • noun In Chara and some algæ, a covering of tubular or other cells inclosing the axis; in lichens, the cortical layer (which see, under cortical).
  • noun Specifically, in medicine, Peruvian bark.
  • noun In anatomy and zoology, some part or structure likened to bark or rind; cortical substance: as, the coriex of the brain.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Bark, as of a tree; hence, an outer covering.
  • noun (Med.) Bark; rind; specifically, cinchona bark.
  • noun (Anat.) The outer or superficial part of an organ.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun countable, anatomy The outer layer of an internal organ or body structure, such as the kidney or the brain.
  • noun uncountable, botany The tissue of a stem or root that lies inward from the epidermis, but exterior to the vascular tissue.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the layer of unmyelinated neurons (the grey matter) forming the cortex of the cerebrum
  • noun the tissue forming the outer layer of an organ or structure in plant or animal
  • noun the tissue that surrounds the lens nucleus

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin, bark; see sker- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin cortex ("bark").

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Examples

  • Assuming their cerebral cortex is still intact and functioning.

    Living on the Edge 2009

  • Assuming their cerebral cortex is still intact and functioning.

    Living on the Edge 2009

  • The extension and orientation of dendrites of the Purkinje cells provided a key for the understanding of how the cerebellar cortex is built up and works (the same could be stated for all other structures of the brain, in which how neuronal processes are arranged is the prerequisite for their functioning).

    Black Reaction - La reazione nera 2010

  • Assuming their cerebral cortex is still intact and functioning.

    Living on the Edge 2009

  • The frontal cortex is cream and pale green, the visual cortex a mix of blue, purple and turquoise while the hippocampus is made up of baby pink wool.

    Psychiatrist Knits Anatomically Correct Woolly Brain | clusterflock 2009

  • The 'impact' of the knowledge of the cell architecture and the orientation of its dendrites on the clarification of the structure and function of the cerebellar cortex is explained in this drawing of the cerebellar cortex (D).

    Black Reaction - La reazione nera 2010

  • Assuming their cerebral cortex is still intact and functioning.

    Living on the Edge 2009

  • In a newly funded five-year project, the John Hopkins researchers will be trying to identify precisely what aberrant pattern of neural activity in the auditory cortex is associated with the onset of tinnitus, monitoring over-all brain activity in tinnitus sufferers, and experimenting with the compounds that might be able to suppress the condition.

    Tinnitus: the sound of silence ewillett 2008

  • The visual cortex is being cued, at a subliminal but pervasive level, that what is being seen is real.

    James Cameron's Inspirational Discussion on 3D and Avatar « FirstShowing.net 2008

  • And the prefrontal cortex is even more involved in detecting novelty, like the unexpected photographs, he said.

    Boing Boing 2008

Comments

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  • "3. Specifically, in medicine, Peruvian bark."

    --Century Dictionary

    April 8, 2011