Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The back.
- noun The upper, outer surface of an organ, appendage, or part.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In anat.: The back
- noun The back of a part or organ: as, the dorsum of the foot; the dorsum of the shoulder-blade.
- noun In conchology, the upper surface of the body of a shell, the aperture being downward.
- noun The ridge of a hill.
- noun In the ammonite cephalopods, the inner or umbilical margin of the conch.
- noun In botany: Same as
back . 3 . - noun The convex side of the girdle of a diatom.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The ridge of a hill.
- noun (Anat.) The back or dorsal region of an animal; the upper side of an appendage or part.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun geology
ridge on ahill ; Used byplanetary geologists to refer toridge on the surfaces ofplanet andmoon . - noun The back or
dorsal region on an animal.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the posterior part of a human (or animal) body from the neck to the end of the spine
- noun the back of the body of a vertebrate or any analogous surface (as the upper or outer surface of an organ or appendage or part)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The external surface (Fig. 235), known as the dorsum ilii, is directed backward and lateralward behind, and downward and lateralward in front.
II. Osteology. 6c. The Bones of the Lower Extremity. 1. The Hip Bone 1918
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The new species is distinguished from all congeners by having a melanistic color pattern, with head and dorsum of the body mostly dark-brown to black; absence of postocular stripe; venter grayish-brown, with dark rounded blotches outlining two lateral stripes which become gradually paler towards the posterior region of the belly, disappearing after midbody.
Archive 2008-02-01 2008
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Serpentine veins rise across the dorsum of her hand, swollen with the back pressure of blood.
Healer Carol Wiley Cassella 2010
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The attention to detail is very impressive -- I mean the dorsum ridges look so natural I almost didn't notice them.
This'll Cure that Freaky Fetish Jen 2009
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The new taxon can be easily distinguished from all congeners, except Otocinclus cocama, by having a single, intensely pigmented, vertical W-shaped caudal fin spot and by having three discrete dark bands on dorsum, between the dorsal-fin base and the caudal fin.
Archive 2007-01-01 2007
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The juveniles, normally around 10 cm long, have a gold dorsum with a black central dorsal stripe and black sides.
Archive 2006-05-01 Darren Naish 2006
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Confert et pulmo arietis, calidus agnus per dorsum divisus, exenteratus, admotus sincipiti.
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Verett claims that due to the injury she suffered at Pizza Hut, she was unable to avoid falling on a later date and tore tendons and suffered injuries to her left hand and wrist, including a partial tear of the pronator quadratus muscle at the dorsum. emphasis ours.
$50k For Injury Sustained Holding Open The Door Of A Pizza Hut? - The Consumerist 2007
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Note 118: Canon, 1.3.1, fol. 65vb: "Deinde fiat ut in primis super ventrem sui iaceat, postea supra dorsum, et preter hoc totum incessanter fricetur et prematur, et figuretur: deinde ad ipsum cum panno fasciandum est redeundum." back
A Tender Age: Cultural Anxieties over the Child in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries 2005
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Sacrorum contemptor, templi foribus effractis, dum D. Johannis argenteum simulacrum rapere contendit, simulacrum aversa facie dorsum ei versat, nec mora sacrilegus mentis inops, atque in semet insaniens in proprios artus desaevit.
BrainyBabe commented on the word dorsum
In a healthcare context, can refer to the back of the hand, as in, "Remember to wash your hands: knuckles, wrist, dorsum and all." Plural dorsa or dorsums?
December 26, 2008