Definitions

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

  • noun The sheath that is formed by a Schwann cell.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The delicate structureless sheath of a nerve-fiber; the primitive sheath; the sheath of Schwann.
  • noun The sheath of a nerve-funieulus; the perineurium.
  • noun Of the spinal cord, the pia mater.

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

  • noun The delicate outer sheath of a nerve fiber; the primitive sheath.
  • noun The perineurium.

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

  • noun The outer membranous covering of a nerve fiber.

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

  • noun thin membranous sheath around a nerve fiber

Etymologies

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

[Alteration (influenced by Greek lemma, husk) of French névrilème : névr-, nerve (from Greek neuro-, neuro-) + Greek eilēma, veil (from eilein, to wind, turn; see wel- in Indo-European roots).]

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Examples

  • The Schwann's cells finally form a thin membrane called the neurilemma (nyoo'rih-lem'uh; "nerve-skin" G), which still contains the nuclei of the original Schwann's cells.

    The Human Brain Asimov, Isaac 1963

  • Where the neurilemma has been destroyed or where the axon is one lacking a neurilemma (as many are) regeneration is impossible.

    The Human Brain Asimov, Isaac 1963

  • An axon which has degenerated through injury or disease can sometimes be regenerated, provided its neurilemma has remained intact.

    The Human Brain Asimov, Isaac 1963

  • Surrounding the axis cylinder is a thick, whitish-looking layer, known as the _medullary sheath_, and around this is a thin covering, called the _primitive sheath_, or neurilemma.

    Physiology and Hygiene for Secondary Schools Francis M. Walters

  • A, a medullated nerve fiber, showing the subdivision of the medullary sheath into cylindrical sections imbricated with their ends, a nerve corpuscle with an oval nucleus is seen between the neurilemma and the medullary sheath;

    A Practical Physiology Albert F. Blaisdell

  • The whole is enclosed in a thin, delicate sheath, known as neurilemma.

    A Practical Physiology Albert F. Blaisdell

  • Around this bundle of neurones, that is around the nerve, is still another wrapping, silvery-white, called the neurilemma.

    The Mind and Its Education George Herbert Betts 1901

  • A nerve consists of a bundle of tubular fibers, held together by a dense areolar tissue, and inclosed in a membranous sheath -- the neurilemma.

    Special Report on Diseases of the Horse Charles B. Michener 1877

  • All the larger nerve-fibers lie side by side in the nerve-trunks, and are bound together by delicate connective tissue, enclosed in a sheath of the same material, termed the _neurilemma_.

    The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English or, Medicine Simplified, 54th ed., One Million, Six Hundred and Fifty Thousand Ray Vaughn Pierce 1877

  • (It was Schwann who first described the neurilemma in 1839, so that it is sometimes called the "sheath of Schwann."

    The Human Brain Asimov, Isaac 1963

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